


Timeless

by Ever21



Category: Merlin - Fandom, Merthur - Fandom
Genre: M/M, Merlin - Freeform, Merthur - Freeform, bbc merlin - Freeform, king arthur - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2018-11-21 20:21:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 58,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11364918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ever21/pseuds/Ever21
Summary: It's 2017 and Merlin has waited so long.... That he's forgotten what he was waiting for in the first place....





	1. Chapter 1

Trying third person for the first time... 

I'm excited for this actually. 

Yes I have others out but come on. Who doesn't love Merthur?? 

They're fucking cute as hell.

~ Ever21

\-------------:)------------:)--------:)------;)------

 

"Will you stop changing the channels?" Merlin asks snatching the remote from the young girl who crosses her arms and pouts.

Merlin sighs. "Don't give me that look Clary." He says standing up and heading into the kitchen with the remote in hand. He puts his cup in the sink and pours water into it. "You have to get ready to go." He says walking back into the living room to see the young brunette girl pouting still with her arms crossed over her blue shirt that has a Disney princess on it. 

"But why Merlin?" She asks throwing herself on to her side making her brown hair go all over the place. "I don't want to go." She whines and Merlin shakes his head looking down at her.

"I'm sorry Clary but you must. Your mother wants to see you." He tells her and she groans but sits up nodding her head.

"Okay I'll go. But I won't like it." She says jumping off the couch and going up the stairs to grab her stuff. Merlin sighs and plops down on the couch and looks out the window at the leafs that change colour due to the change in season. He puts the remote back on the table.

"Merlin!" 

Merlin chuckles as he gets up at the sound of the young girl yelling for him. 

It reminds him of something. Something far, far away in his mind, a faint memory if you would say.

"Merlin!" She yells again which only makes him get up the stairs much faster, ignoring the thoughts he just had.

"Yes? What would you like?" He asks popping his head in the door frame only to see the small child glaring at the bag that is now on its side with things thrown out of it on the floor.

He chuckles. "What are you doing?" The small girl glares at him. 

"Don't make fun of me Merlin." She says and Merlin walks over and helps her pick up the stuff. 

"Come on." Merlin says motioning for her to help pick up. She sighs but does as told. 

After picking up all the things and zipping up her bag, there's a knock at the door making Clary groan.

Merlin chuckles and goes down the stairs with the child complaining from the top of the stairs the whole way down at him. He rolls his eyes as he opens the door. 

"Oh hello Merlin. How are you doing?" Clary's mother, Jill asks. He smiles back and opens the door so she can come in.

"I'm doing fine thank you for asking. How are you?" He asks and she grins as Merlin shuts the door.

"I'm doing good. Where's Clary?" She asks and just as those words leave her lips Clary comes down the stairs dragging her bag with her, frowning.

"Mummy I don't want to go." She whines and Jill chuckles not even fazed by this anymore. This has been going on for as long as Merlin can remember. 

"Now, now Clary. Let's be off now. I have to be places." Jill says and Clary nods her head. She drops her bag and rushes over and gives Merlin a hug like always.

"I'll see you next time Clary." Merlin says as they both head out the door it shutting behind them. 

He sighs locking his door as he looks at the calendar beside the door and frowns. 

Halloween is tomorrow. 

He furrows his eyes brows. What should he wear? And how did he forget?

He shrugs his shoulders. "I'll cross that bridge when I get there." He mumbles to himself and shakes his head.

He goes back into the living room and sits down on the couch. He looks up at the tv to see Marly and Me playing. He smiles sadly at the movie and leans back, pulling his knees up to his chest as the movie continues to play.

He leans his head back as he watches the dog run on the beach away from its owners. 

"What would it be like if I were a dog?" He says to himself out loud in his now empty place. 

He sighs shaking his head as he looks at the time to see its only 5:30pm. 

He closes his eyes as he yawns and rubs his eyes as he tries to stay awake to at least finish this movie. Plus it would screw up his sleeping pattern if he slept.

But we can't all win. 

Merlin closes his eyes and before he knows it, he's asleep.

\----------------------

Merlin looks around confused as to where he is but then realizes he's on his couch and he fell asleep. He groans sitting up and seeing it's now almost 8:00. 

His mind is fuzzy from the dream he had. He can only remember bits and pieces of it. 

Someone yelling Merlin a bunch of times. And not in the good way.

They sounded annoyed and some even mad. He hasn't pissed off anyone recently. Well that he knows of anyways.

He shakes his head and runs a hand through his black tousled, curly hair. He rubs the sleep away from his eyes. 

He rolls his eyes and gets up, stretching his arms over his head as his brown t-shirt rises up a little to reveal his stomach. 

His stomach rumbles and he frowns looking down at his flat empty stomach. 

"Better eat something." He mumbles as he makes his way to the kitchen. "Let's find something shall we." 

Merlin goes into the kitchen and opens the fridge only to find it empty. The same with the cabinets.

'Well don't I suck?' He thinks to himself rolling his eyes and groaning.

He walks over to his coat hanger grabbing his coat and he throws on his VANs. He grabs a blue scarf and for some reason, hesitates before glancing at the red one buried under another plaid one. He then shakes his head and switches scarfs before questioning his sanity even more and leaves the house. 

He checks his phone and sees its already quarter to 9. He ruffles his black hair out and sighs as a pizza shop comes in view after walking for a while.

He opens the door and the bell rings as the smell of cooking pizzas overwhelms Merlin making him smile.

'Man I love pizza' he thinks walking over to the counter.

A girl with her brown hair up in a bun smiles at him. "Hi what can I get you?" She says all ready for his order. 

Merlin smiles softly back, "I'll have a medium cheese please with a side of crazy cheese bread." He tells her as he gets out his wallet and she rings it all up.

"That'll be 18.98$." She says as Merlin gives her 20$. 

"Uh keep the change." He says and she grins and goes to the back of the shop.

Merlin sits on one of the chairs and gets out his phone and scrolls through his contacts, looking for anyone to talk with, but like his messages, it's completely empty besides him and the people in the back.

His phone goes off making him jump a little at the sudden noise coming from his hand.

'Merlin? You coming to the Halloween party tomorrow night? If not I will kill you personally.' 

Merlin chuckles shaking his head. Man that girl is strange, but he loves her to pieces.

'I'll be there, still need a costume though so might be a little late.' 

He sends it and puts his phone away as he gets called over because his pizza is done.

He thanks her and takes the boxes and heads back out towards his home. He hums some random song he heard on the radio while he walks, shivering a little in the cold air around him. 

As he comes up to his road there is a giant car crash. 

What the bloody hell? When did this happen?

He furrows his eyebrows as an officer comes over.

"Sir, you can't be here. I'm going to need to ask you to leave. No photos please." She says frowning at Merlin as he slowly takes a step back and turns around.

"Guess I have to go through the park. Yay me." He mumbles to himself as he goes to his left towards the park to get home.

There was always something about the park that always gives him a stomachache, makes him feel like shit.

He steps on the cement pathway and his grip tightens on his box. 

He looks around, he gets a feeling almost like he's being watched. He stops and tenses and looks all around him by the trees and the park equipment. He then turns and looks over at the lake that's been there sense he got there and then some. The black darkness of it stares back at him.

He shudders and not from the cold this time. 

He starts walking and slowly starts picking up his pace until he's almost jogging to get out of the park. 

'Fuck this shit.'

The moon gets covered by a cloud and everything goes black making Merlin freeze in mid step.  

For a few heart beats, it's just him and the darkness and pizza in his hands that is probably cold by now.

He takes a deep breath and slowly lets it out his shoulders relaxing a little when he only hears himself.

Then sound from his left makes him tense up all over again.

He winces when he hears the sound again and closes his eyes tight.

He doesn't need to look to his left to know where the sound is coming from.

The water.

He doesn't need to hear the sound of water moving to make him start to sprint.

Holding the pizza carefully he books it out of the park. 

Thank god for long legs.

He reaches his place and quickly grabs his key and unlocks the door as fast as he can and then locks it back up again once inside.

He lets out a big breath and leans his forehead against the now locked door. 

"I'm going crazy. Bloody mad." He says to himself as he walks to the kitchen and puts the boxes on the counter, not even bothering to look at them.

His phone rings making him jump and bump into a chair that's been pulled out sense this morning when Clary had cereal. He winces and holds onto his side.

He fishes out his phone from his coat pocket and holds it up to his ear.

"Hello?" 

"What do you mean you don't have a costume?" Comes a reply from the other end making Merlin roll his eyes. 

"Exactly as it sounds. Holly I don't have a costume. And it's to late now to go get one. Everything is closed tomorrow because of Halloween." Merlin says taking off his scarf and then his coat all while trying to hold the phone up to his ear.

Then he remembers he can just put her on speaker. 

Genius Merlin.

He pushes the speaker button just as she begins to talk again.

"Merlin, its Halloween! How do you not have a damn costume?!" Holly yells at him and he hangs his coat up along with his scarf, ignoring her question all together. 

"Holly, listen. I just didn't have time. I had Clary most of the week." He says taking his boots off and setting them at the door. "And before you say it, no I was not taking a 5 year old into a Halloween shop where I can get a costume that fits me properly." 

She huffs on the other end. "Well I'm sure you can find something to wear tomorrow. Even if you have to go back and look through boxes or something." She says as Merlin hears her move on the other end.

"Yeah I'm sure I can come up with something." The sarcasm is noted when Holly groans.

"Hey I have an idea." She says sounding more awake then before. 

"Uh oh. You know it's not good for you when you think to hard." Merlin says and she tells him off.

"Listen you shit. Why don't you go as yourself?" And that's when Merlin grows even more confused by the girls tactics.

"What do you mean?" He says glancing over at the abandoned pizza boxes. He gets up, grabs a plat and slowly opens the box.

He smiles at the pizza that's still intact. It just got cold so fast that the toppings seem like he had it in his fridge for a while.

"I mean why not go as Merlin. Literally." She says and Merlin stops what he's doing and almost drops the plat of food. 

"Go as Merlin? Literally? Like the kings manservant Merlin?" He asks and a tight knot forms in his stomach and his chest starts to ache, but he doesn't know why. So he just brushes it off.

"Well what other Merlin would I have been talking about?" She sasses back and he can almost picture her with her arms crossed and a hard glare set.

"I-I'll have to see what I got. I have to go I'll text you tomorrow to let you know what's going on." He says before even waiting for her to reply he hangs up and puts his phone down beside him. He sits down and puts his hands in his hair and groans.

What even is happening?


	2. Boxes

Merlin sighs as he puts the pizza box in the fridge. 

"Well," he says looking at the clock on the stove that says it's 12:30am. "I'm wide awake now." 

He turns the kettle on but then turns it off again frowning. Why not have coffee?

He gets out a mug and goes over to his Keurig machine and turns it on, then grabs a pod of coffee and stuffs in it the top. As that makes his coffee he gets out the creamer that's in the fridge door.

He makes his coffee and sighs with satisfaction with a sip. 

Merlin makes his way upstairs and tries to not spill the coffee he just made, for a couple of reasons. 

Most are obvious. 

That and it's what's going to keep him awake a little longer to find a costume to please Holly.

'That girl I tell you. She will be the death of me' He shakes his head.

Merlin stops and furrows his eyebrows confused. "Where did I put my extra boxes anyway?" He mumbles to himself as he bites his lip. 

After a few moments of just standing in the hallway looking like an idiot in his own home, he finally manages to move to his room to set his mug down on the table beside his bed.

Merlin then picks it up again and takes a big gulp of his coffee and leaves his mug as he goes over to his closet. Why would he keep old stuff in the bottom of his closet? He uses this everyday.

He shakes his head at himself as he gets on his knees and hands before searching through the bottom of his closet floor. 

And with no such luck in his side, he comes up empty handed. Not that he expected anything less.

He runs a hand through his hair and stands up brushing off his knees and hands. 

"So where then?" Merlin says to himself as he makes his way out into the hallway. "Okay think you idiot. Where do most people put old things they still kind of care about but not really..." he says crossing his arms and glancing around the hallway.

He then smacks himself in the face and makes his way to the basement stairs. 

"Am I an idiot? Yes of course I'm an idiot. Why the bloody hell didn't I think of this before?" He shakes his head as he goes down the carpeted stairs. 

Merlins basement isn't gross. It's actually the opposite really. He hangs out down here all the time with Holly and a few others who decide to tag along. That also includes Clary.

The ground is a soft light carpet and it's lit up very well. A tv on the wall, a huge couch that has an angle in it. And other stuff that's usually in an entertainment centre. 

He makes his way over to the spare room and turns the light on only to be met with a bunch of boxes stacked high. How did he even manage to get them that high? And why so many boxes?

'Is it bad I don't remember what's in most of these boxes or where they came from?' He thinks, frowning.

Gods he hopes not. 

He looks them over from the doorway and goes for one that's in the corner closest to him and takes it out to the couch.

On the box in messy writing says "clothes. Kinda".

"Well that's reassuring. Thanks past Merlin...." He mumbles to himself and man does he need to stop talking to himself.

He unfolds the flaps and dust comes flying at him making him back away and cough. He blinks a few times to get the dust out.

Once he's all good and ready for more dust, he opens the box again. 

He frowns at what's inside.

Sitting on the top of a pile of clothes, is a red neckerchief. You know, the ones the people would wear around there neck all the time. I guess people still do.

He grows confused at the emotions that have seemed to take over his actions as he grabs out the neckerchief with gentle hands and glances at the rest of the clothes under it.

A blue shirt is next, not the materials used nowadays. Then under is a pair of old pants. Trousers.

He has a sudden urge to curl up into a ball and cry forever. 

He puts a hand on his heart and frowns even more as it picks up speed a little. What's happening to him?

Merlin takes a deep breath and the moment passes, but he can still feel it lurking close by, not so close that it's over powering but close enough that he can feel it pulling on him.

He then closes the box without looking in it anymore.

He does not need anymore random emotions right now.

He grabs the clothes that were in the box and takes them upstairs with him and lays them on the dresser. 

He crosses his arm a wondering if the material is to fragile to put in the wash and decides against it.

He looks at the time and sees it's already 1:00am and groans. 

He gets his coffee cup and takes it back down stairs and puts it in the sink and as usual, he forgot to turn the machine off. 

After all that fun stuff he makes his way back upstairs to his room to finally get a good nights sleep. 

After the weird day he's had, he feels like he deserves it.

\-------------------:)------------

When the light finally wakes Merlin he groans and turns his face into his pillow more, feeling his scruff brush against the pillow under his cheek. 

To early Merlin thinks as he settles back in the deep comfort of sleep. 

But that doesn't last long because his phone goes off.

He groans and blindly reaches over for his phone which is in his bedside table before pushing the answer button and putting her on speaker. Her, because he knows who it is already. 

"Merlin! Are you awake??" She says making Merlin wince. 

"Well how would I pick up the phone if I were sleeping still?" He mumbles loud enough for Holly to hear making her sigh.

"Shut the fuck up. Okay. I'm coming over." She says before hanging up making him groan loud. He shakes his head before locking his phone and falling back asleep.

\----------------------------------

"Merlin you idiot!"

Merlin slowly opens his eyes to see a blonde girl shaking her head at him glaring with her hands on her hips.

"Well hello to you too." He says before sitting up slowly. He yawns and scratches his bare chest before crossing his arms leaning against the bed frame with hooded sleepy eyes.

He can see Holly eye him and he chuckles shaking his head.

"Jeez." She pouts and crosses her arms. "I totally would date you." She says and Merlin breaks out into a huge shit eating grin.

"Oh Holly." He says. "You know I don't go that way." He chuckles and she rolls her eyes at him before smiling. 

"Yeah don't worry I got that when I walked in on you and Archer." She says smirking and Merlin blushes and looks down at the blanket that's in his hands.

Yeah that was not his best idea.... but he couldn't help it. And he doesn't regret it.

Something made his stomach flip when he made eye contact with Archer the first time. Archer is a blonde, blue eyed football player who just happens to like blue eyed, black haired guys. 

He doesn't know if it's a good flip or not but he went with it being good because he ended up with his hand down Archers pants and his mouth wasn't far behind and neither was Archers.

"Well I didn't think you'd come back to my place after." He says sticking his tongue out at her and she flushes a deep shade of red.

"Well I could have gone my whole life without seeing what I saw." She says sitting on his bed and he moves to sit up more.

He stares at her and she meets his eyes and he raises his eyebrows at her a few times and she punches his arm. "Stop it." She says.

"Oh come on, you liked it. You got a kick out of it." He says teasing her and she rolls her eyes.

"No. That's just- you're disgusting Merlin." She says standing up.

He laughs at her and she breaks into a smile, joining him.

"Come on. Get dressed and I'll go down stairs and make some coffee for us." She says before heading down stairs leaving Merlin thinking of a blonde haired, blue eyed guy.

But not Archer....

"Merlin! Come on we don't have all day!" Holly yells from downstairs making Merlin snap out of his daze.

He throws the blanket off himself and makes his way down stairs, only in his boxers slowly. The smell of coffee hits his nose making it sting and he scrunches it up.

Holly turns around and see him, then frowns.

"Merlin I said get dressed. We're going out." She says and Merlin finally takes note in what she's wearing and he grows even more confused as to why he hasn't noticed it before.

She's dressed in a suit and tie, the tie is crooked and she's got on a trench coat. Her hair is up in a tight bun.

He raises an eyebrow confused. 

She looks at him and then down at her outfit. She chuckles.

"Really? Do you not go on Tumblr or the internet? Like at all?" She asks and he crosses his arms.

"Not everyone can live on the internet Holly. I barley go on it myself. You know this. I live under a rock really." He says his Irish accent sticking out on certain words. 

"Right. Forgot you live back in the old days." She mumbles turning back to the coffee she was making. "Oh and go get dressed in your costume." She says before Merlin has a chance to move or respond properly.

"Why?" He asks and she turns back around just as fast and looks at him like he's stupid or something.

"Do you not see the time? You slept the whole bloody day away Merlin." She says and Merlin gaps turning to look at the time and he almost falls over at the time. It's already 3:00.

"Holy shit!" He tells before running up the stairs.

He grabs his Merlin stuff and as fast as he can shaves and hops in the shower. Just as quick he's out and pulling the old pants onto his body.

He hesitates and looks down at the shirt in his hands frowning.

Why is he hesitating? It's just a shirt.

The fabric of the shirt feels eerie in his hands but he pulls the shirt over his head and it's like a hug he missed so so much but at the same time he wants to push it off and burn it.

He sighs before getting the neckerchief and walking down the stairs slowly, his eyes never leaving the fabric in his hands.

"Well, well. You clean up nice Merlin." Holly says sassy and he looks up and chuckles at her before shaking his head. 

"Why do people emphasize the beginning of my name?" He asks while going over to the microwave to look at his reflection to put the red neckerchief on his neck.

He turns to look at her and holds out his hands. "Well? What do you think?" He asks.

She looks him over from head to toe twice and smiles. "You look like a servant from back then." 

He lets out a breath of air. "That's what I'm going for. Have you seen what he looked like back then?" He asks shaking out his hair.

"Nope. But I've heard stories. I mean, everyone has. You fit the description pretty good you know. Like with the hair colour and the clothes and such." She says before putting her shoes on and Merlin follows her lead, but not before putting on a jacket.

They go outside and Merlin locks his door and they go into Holly's car. 

"So where are we going exactly?" He asks after awhile as she turns down Filling Street.

"I told you yesterday on the phone peasant, we are going to a Halloween party young Warlock." She smirks wide over at him before turning her attention back to the road making Merlin wonder what the hell happened to get himself wrapped up in this.


	3. The Water

"You do realize that it's only 3:30 in the afternoon right?" Merlin says as she pulls up to a huge house that has cars parked everywhere. "Why are we here so early exactly?"

Holly turns the car off and turns to look at Merlin with a hard stare, which looks even more intimidating because of her hair and outfit. Sorta. "Merlin, honey. Listen to me. And listen closely." She says and grabs his hands making him frown at her weird behaviour. "You need to get out. Like, outside and be social. You need to meet others- and no not for a one night stand like Archer. Now here is the answer to your question, people who like to party and celebrate holidays always start early so it seems to lasts longer. Get with the program for once Merlin and maybe get your head from the past and into the present." She says before letting go of his hands and getting out of the car, leaving Merlin to think of what she just said.

He frowns after a few moments and he finally climbs out of his car and smoothness out his shirt and feels weird being in these clothes.

Where did he get them from?

Why is this now just occurring to him?

"Merlin!" He hears Holly shout and he looks up to see her standing by the door looking at him like he's on drugs or something along those lines.

He looks beside her and sees her friend- Jessica- chuckling as Holly looks back at her and says something then they both look at Merlin before Holly throws her head back and groans. 

"Merlin lets go!" She tells and Merlin finally moves towards them and stands beside Holly as Jessica looks his outfit over and giggles.

"Nice clothes Merlin." She says as she lets us inside and he rolls his eyes but smiles either way.

He walks in and a bunch of people are dressed up as random characters from random stuff. From animals to monsters to nurses. 

He turns to look at Holly. "Am I the only one as a myth? An old folk tale?" He asks scrunching up his face as Holly laughs nodding her head.

"Yes." 

"You're awful. I hope you know that." He says turning back around and goes straight to the kitchen for a nice strong drink.

\-------------------------------

"Merlin what are you doing?" Holly asks coming over with a drink in her hand. You can tell that this is definitely not her first and he highly doubts it's going to be her last.

"I'm sitting here ignoring most people who make Merlin jokes at me." He says taking a long sip of whatever is in his cup. Something with alcohol that's for sure.

Holly giggles. "Well why by yourself? Merlin, find someone." She sings the end before walking away, her tan trench coat flapping behind her. 

Merlin chuckles taking another sip of his drink. Maybe he'll get drunk enough to forget this night and not go home alone if he's lucky.

Yeah to stuffy in here he thinks as he throws his cup out and makes his way outside to the backyard and faces the woods as the music plays loud in the house, so loud he can hear every word coming from some song.

"Oh Merlin!" He sighs and looks behind him to see Holly with some guy dressed in jeans, a plaid button up shirt and a leather jacket making Merlin even more confused on who he's suppose to be. "Where's your prince Arthur?" She giggles as it seems mystery boy and her are clinging to each other to hold each other up right.  He turns around to face the woods again feeling weird.

Merlin frowns as he feels his heart pick up speed and his eyes get wet. What's going on?

"Merlin? Where is he? Do you know?" Holly asks sounding a little confused on his lack of response.

He clears his throat. "Not yet Holly. I haven't found him yet. Just go back inside and have fun." He says. Lying to her or to himself he doesn't know.

"Okay love. I'll be with my Winchester if you need me." She says and her laugh fades as they go back inside. 

He takes a deep breath and let's out a gasp of air that turns out to be a sob and Merlin has no idea why or where it came from.

He grabs onto his shirt and falls on his knees as the sobs come harder and for some reason he can't stop crying.

Why? 

What's happening to him?

He throws himself up and runs around the left side of house to the front yard with tears rushing down his face. 

He just needs to get away. 

To where he doesn't know.

He just runs.

He almost trips but it's almost like his feet know where to step even if Merlin himself doesn't.

After running for awhile he gasps for air as he falls to his knees and holds his chest. Life is crazy. This is crazy.

He is going mad. He's going crazy.

He can't seem to stop the tears even if he wants them to and he looks up through blurry eyes to see the lake. 

And for some reason that makes him cry even harder and he didn't know that was possible. 

"I'm going bloody mad." He mumbles to himself as he wipes his eyes and puts his head in his hands.

The water moves again but Merlin can't seem to bring himself to care at the moment.

He closes his eyes and random photos- visions?- appear. 

Him and some blonde guy. 

A very cute blonde guy. 

And it's not Archer this time.

And just like that all of the memories pint up from over the past 2500 years come crashing down on him and he breaks out another gut wrenching sob and he screams as he remembers everything. 

Gwen.

Morgona.

Leon.

Lancelot.

Gwaine.

All the other knights. 

Arthur.

Merlin open and closes his eyes again as images of Arthur flash through his mind behind his eyeballs. From when he first met Arthur and called him friend to the day he died in Merlins arms at this very spot. All of the smiles he gave Merlin and all the tears he shed for him as well.

All those little things that Arthur did to make him Arthur. 

"What have I done? Why have I forgotten so much? Why have I forgotten myself? Why have I forgotten him?" He says to himself as he curls in on himself as the chilly wind wraps around him.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He whispers and it's almost like he can hear Arthur laughing at him and telling him to stop being such a girl.

He gives a watery chuckle at the thought and he wipes his cheeks again with the back of his sleeve.

Now everything makes more sense.

He sighs and looks down at his hands that are holding tightly to his shirt, not caring about the cold seeping through his pants and getting his legs cold and wet.

There's a splashing sound from the water in front of him and his frown deepens. 

It's almost like the isle of the blessed is messing with him. Mocking him. 

He shakes his head and goes to stand up when he hears a groaning sound and his blood runs cold. 

He slowly looks up but sees nothing. 

He swallows and slowly stands up and makes his way towards the water, fearing what's making that sound.

Wait what. Why is he scared? He's the most powerful being ever.

Instead of looking at the direction of the sound with fear, his eyes harden and he glares at the sound.

He slowly walks forward as the groaning continues but it sounds strange. 

Merlin just grows more and more confused as the sounds continue because it's almost sounding..... human?

Merlin holds his hands out ready to throw something at whatever is making the sound, even if he's not sure he can still do it. Holding out his hands feels right and the most normal thing all day.

He sees something crawling on the shore of the water and Merlin can't help but make a grossed out face. 

Because come on, that's gross. Why would you be in the way when it's so cold out? Plus the water is gross this time of year, everyone knows that.

He makes his way closer and stops once he realizes it's just some random person probably drunk. 

He sighs and lowers his hands, thinking he looks like an idiot and hopefully if anyone saw what he was doing they'd play it off as him playing the role of his costume, which he actually is... but it's not just a role anymore. 

It never was.

Merlin slowly backs away and pretends he doesn't see anything when a strangled noise makes him stop in his tracks. 

He turns back around and the guy looks up.

His heart stops at what's in front of him. 

Blue eyes meet blue eyes.


	4. Juice Jug

His breath gets stuck in his throat and he takes a step back and then falls on his butt in the cold dirt.

"Arthur." Merlin breathes at the blonde guy who Merlin is most certain isn't Arthur because that can't because Arthur died in his arms over what feels like millions of years ago.

But Merlin would know those eyes anywhere. 

The blonde guy smiles looking at the ground a little but then looks confused and a little pained. Merlin can feel his heart start beating so fast he was scared it would kill him. 

Even though he knows it can't kill him.

But no, he's right. It's Arthur.

His Arthur.

Arthur slowly gets to his knees and his arms are what's holding him up, as he looks at the ground, his arms shaking and he looks so weak. Unlike the Arthur he grew up with but much more like the Arthur who was dying in his arms.

He then looks up at Merlin and almost as if Merlin has been splashed with cold water, he quickly gets up and slowly walks back to Arthur. 

He hesitates before holding out a hand towards Arthur. Fearing that this is all because of the alcohol he drank and Arthur really isn't here.

But all that doubt goes away when he feels Arthur's hand grab his hand and Merlin feels more tears come to his eyes, even though he was so sure he ran out of them.

He pulls Arthur up and the familiar sound of the chain mail fills Merlins ears and he slowly chuckles breathlessly to himself. How's this possible?

He lets Arthur throw his arm around him as he makes his way back to his place. If Arthur was better, even a little bit then he'd be pushing Merlin away saying he could do it.

Well he knows one thing for sure, he didn't go home alone.

No wonder the park always gave me the creeps. 

As they walk, no one says a word. The only knowledge of Arthur actually alive beside him is his breathing and the rise and fall of his chest under the armour.

When they finally reach Merlin's house he digs around in his pocket for the key and unlocks the door, half helping and half dragging Arthur though the door before shutting and locking the door.

He really doesn't need Holly to come barging in here right now.

Or at all really.

He slowly drags Arthur to the living room and groans once Arthur is off his shoulders and onto the couch. Yes his couch is getting wet but he can't find it in himself to care.

Merlin slowly backs away as Arthur gets this far away look in his eyes. Merlin blinks his.

"I know you're weak but I need you to stand up again so I can take your chainmail off." Merlin says with a wobbly voice.

Arthur doesn't move or seem to have heard Merlin and it makes his heart hurt. 

After a few moments of Arthur just sitting there, Merlin slowly pulls Arthur off the couch and starts taking off his chainmail and armour and he sighs once he removes it all. 

"Okay I'm going to run you a bath." He says as he slowly helps Arthur up the stairs and down the hallway. 

Once in the bathroom Arthur sits on the toilet seat as Merlin runs his bath, filling it with warm water. He lets it run for a few minutes as he and Arthur sit in dead silence the whole time.

Once the bath is full of the warm water he stands up from the side of the tub and faces Arthur.

He helps Arthur out of his shirt and his breath hitches at the feeling of how sadly familiar this feels and his eyes fall on the muscle on his arm and he averts his gaze back up to Arthur's blank gaze.

He sighs and then returns to taking his clothes off and helping Arthur into the water, averting his gaze and making sure he only looks at Arthur's head and shoulders. 

He washes Arthur's shoulders and his hair slowly and before he knows what's happening he's crying again not caring if Arthur is there.

He drops the cloth and he gets up leaving Arthur in the bathroom, staring blankly at the white wall as he rushes down the stairs and falls on the couch, losing it all over again.

He's not sure how long he's been sitting there but the whole time he's been going through memories as they seem to just pop up and take over his mind.

He hears a creak in the floor board and he turns around quickly to see Arthur frowning at him. Merlin quickly wipes his face and eyes.

Arthur has a white towel wrapped around his waist and his still dripping wet, frowning and Merlin can't help but think of how weird this is.

Arthur slowly walks over to him and Merlin holds his breath. Arthur comes to be in front of Merlin and he stands up so there eye to eye.

Before he can help himself Merlin throws his arms around Arthur's wet torso and just sobs. He feels Arthur tense and Merlin thinks he's going to push him away.

But Arthur slowly puts his arms around Merlin and before he knows it Arthur is holding on to him just as tight- maybe even tighter- in his arms. 

"Merlin?" Arthur whispers and Merlin chokes and pulls back a little to meet Arthur's eyes which are now wet and still very confused.

"C'mon Arthur. Let's just get you to bed." Merlin mumbles and Arthur nods his head once, not saying anything else as Merlin helps Arthur to his room to find him some clothes.

Merlin gets him some clothes and he helps Arthur get dressed slowly. Arthur looks down at his clothes confused but still doesn't say anything.

Now where to let Arthur sleep? 

Well he is a king.... well from way way way over 2417 years ago.

"Well Arthur you can sleep here." He says and pulls Arthur over to the side of his bed and pushes him down on it. "Um I'll just be down stairs if you need anything. Or just yell I guess like you used to." He says and scratches the back of his head awkwardly.

He goes to leave the room but turns at the door way and notices Arthur is now laying down but is watching Merlin.

"Goodnight Arthur." Merlin says and shuts the light off and grabs a heavy blanket from the closet before making his way down stairs to sleep on the couch. 

Not the comfiest place but it'll have to do. He'll just have to clean out the spare room. 

He lays on the couch after turning everything off and sighs. He rubs his eyes and before he knows it s giant smile breaks his face because Arthur is here. 

And in his bed.

"This is not how I wanted Arthur to end up in my bed......" He mumbles before groaning and covering his face and before turning on his side and closing his eyes, stuffing his face between the back of the couch and the pillow. 

\--------------------------------------------

Merlin feels himself slowly wake up and groans from the stiffness in his back and neck and is very confused on to why he's sleeping on the couch.

That is till he remembers a certain blonde, blue eyed king and he squeezes his eyes tighter and sighs.

It was a dream. A dream Merlin doesn't want to wake up from.

But sadly the dream is quickly demolished when he feels himself being shaken a little and his eyes snap open.

Fucking Holly.

He quickly turns back over and he meets the blue eyes of the king.

"Merlin." Arthur says very low almost scary and Merlin jumps for joy in his mind because Arthur remembers him. But then it falls because how much does Arthur really remember? Arthur snaps him out of his trance. "What in the bloody hell is going on?" He says slowly and very sternly and Merlin is so happy that he can't seem to form any proper words.

"I- uh-." Smooth Merlin. 

Arthur rolls his eyes. "Well, Merlin you're officially an idiot. Once again." He says before standing up and Merlin's eyes follow his every move.

So it wasn't a dream.

"Merlin! You better be awake!" And there's the mood killer.

"Oh god." Her groans and Arthur looks confused as he turns his head in the direction of the voice.

"Merlin?! Where are you?" Holly yells and Merlin gets up and just shakes his head at the questioning look he gets from Arthur.

He makes his way into the kitchen and sees Holly typing away on her phone opening her mouth to yell when Merlin clears his throat making Holly close her mouth and look up. 

She smiles and pushes her sunglasses up onto her head and goes to say something but snaps her mouth shut and her eyes slip from Merlin to behind him as he feels heat on his back as Arthur comes up behind him.

Holly throws Merlin a wicked grin. "Hello there." She says her eyes flicker back to Merlin and he sighs and walks over to his coffee machine and turns it on, letting it heat up. 

He turns around and leans against the counter, crosses his arms. 

"Merlin don't be rude. Who's your friend here?" Holly asks and looks Arthur up and down and Merlin realizes what this looks like.

Arthur is just in pj pants without a shirt and Merlin isn't any better looking. 

Only in his very low pj pants.

His face goes beat red and Holly snickers.

"This is not what you think." He says pointing a finger at her before going back to making his coffee.

"What does she think happened?" Arthur says crossing his arms and Merlin isn't sure if he's joking or being serious.

Holly turns her whole body around to look at Merlin with her eyebrows raised. His eyes go up to Arthur who he can now see is trying to hide a smile.

Rude.

"Where did you find him?" Holly asks before turning back to Arthur. She eyes him. "Not that I'm complaining or anything."

"What exactly do you think happened between Merlin and me?" He asks and Holly smirks. 

"Oh you know.... just some fun between you guys..... in bed. Or even on the couch for all I know." She says not meeting either of there eyes but grinning at the counter top.

"Merlin why didn't you tell me that's what we were doing? I would have joined you." Arthur says making Merlin blush bright red and groan turning back to make his coffee ignoring Holly snickering.

"Glad to see you're still a prat." He mumbles stirring his coffee then turning back around to face Holly and Arthur.

"Did you just call me a prat?" He asks and Merlin takes a sip of his coffee smiling.

"No, I would never." He says taking another big sip of his coffee and Holly rolls her eyes. "So, how was your night? And how the hell did you get in? I locked the door." He asks Holly.

She smiles. "Merlin honey I have a key. And for your information it was good. Very good." She glances at Arthur then back at Merlin. "How was your night? I'm going to assume very good as well." She says before walking away, probably to go to the washroom.

Once she's out of listening shot Arthur bursts out laughing and Merlin blushes red again. 

"Shut up Arthur." He says and feels weird saying it.

"Did you just tell me to shut up?" 

"Possibly."

"I'm your king. You can't just talk to me like that." 

"Watch me."

"Is it a kinky thing?" 

They both turn around to see Holly leaning against the door frame smirking and Arthur and Merlin look at each other and both look away.

"Wait. So you two seriously didn't have any sex last night?" She says frowning and both of them shake there head. "But you're both wearing no shirts and messy hair and-" she turns to face Merlin confused. "Merlin he looks like majority of the guys you've slept with." She says going over to his fridge and Merlin gapes at her.

"Holls!" Merlin says and she just chuckles continuing to search through his fridge, not even bothering to face him. 

"Guys? Slept with?" Arthur says frowning and crossing his arms and Merlin can feel the confusion coming off him. Oh yes. That's going to be an interesting topic he was hoping to avoid a little longer. But nope. Thanks Holly.

Both of them ignore him.

Holly then looks up and drinks from the orange juice jug. She then puts it back as Merlin rolls his eyes, not even bothering to give her heck again.

It's pointless.

"Well. You guys should get on. I gotta go. I'll talk with you later Merlin." She says blowing him a kiss before heading out the door.

"You slept with guys? How many?" Arthur says and Merlin groans and walks back into the living room leaving Arthur to his imagination in the kitchen.

"Merlin!" 

"Arthur. It doesn't matter." He says and Arthur scoffs.

"Well I'd still like to know wether it matters or not." He says and Merlin looks over at him smirking. 

"Why do you care?" 

"I'm just wondering who my manservant has been sharing his bed with while I've been gone." He says and that's all it takes for Merlin to burst out laughing making Arthur groan.

"Oh Arthur. You don't want to know." He says smirking before leaving Arthur confused standing in the kitchen doorway.

"What? Merlin? What do you mean I don't want to know?" Arthur then goes after Merlin and Merlin laughs while sitting on the couch in the living room.

"Arthur just drop it." Merlin says and Arthur shakes his head and crosses his arms staring down at Merlin.

"Okay fine." He puts his hands up and Merlin turns on the tv. Ignoring Arthur's stare.

"Arthur." Merlin says without looking at him. "Stop."

"Oh come on Merlin. I'm your king. You must obey me." He says growing annoyed and Merlin rolls his eyes.

He flicks the tv off and turns to face Arthur who is now sitting on the couch with him. "Um sorry to burst your bubble sire, but you lost your power over me long ago." 

Arthur gapes at him and then narrows his eyes. "Merlin. I don't care how long ago that was I'm still your king." He frowns and Merlin matches his stare with his own glare.

"Fine. I've been with over roughly 500 guys." He says then turns away back to tv turning it back on but not before seeing Arthur's mouth drop and his eyes to huge.

"What?!" 

Merlin sighs and throws his head back against the couch. "Arthur. You're the one who asked and I responded with an answer."

"You can't have possibly slept with that many guys." He says throwing his hands up and Merlin smirks over at him. 

He sees Arthur turn red and look away before clearing his throat. 

"Oh Arthur." Merlin says, the smirk never leaving his face. "You have no idea." 

Arthur glances up at Merlin before looking down at the couch and pulling at a lose string. Merlin then chuckles.

"There is no way you could have still slept with that many people." He says and Merlin sighs loudly.

"Arthur you seem to be as dense as you were all those years ago." Merlin says and Arthur scoffs and crosses his arms.

"What are you on about?" He says frowning.

Merlin then shakes his head. "Arthur. I have a question for you." 

That just makes Arthur frown even more but he's now confused. 

"Carry on." He says and Merlin feels nervous at the sudden change he's caused.

"Do you uh remember what our last conversation was about?" He asks then clears his throat and Arthur furrows his eyebrows thinking.

"Not really. It's all fuzzy." He mumbles then scratches his head and looks like he's thinking harder.

"Well that just makes it oh so much more fun for me." He says to himself and mentally hits himself because this is going to be a weird conversation. 

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Mhm. So Merlin explain to me the last conversation we had sense you brought it up."

"Uh lets keep that story for another time yeah?"

Arthur grabs Merlin as he goes to get up and pulls him back down but closer to him.

Merlins breath catches in his throat as they meet eye to eye and very close. "Spill it Merlin."

He swallows and looks away but neither of them move away from each other. 

"What's the last thing you actually remember?" He says but it comes out as a whisper. 

"We were making our way to the lake and then we finally got there it's all black." He says keeping his eyes on Merlins face watching for a reaction.

"Do you remember.... how I saved your life? All those times?" Merlin says looking up and meeting his bright blue eyes with his own and he feels a tug on his heart.

"Yeah. And that you're the most powerful being ever." Arthur says his eyes searching Merlins face so intensely that Merlin thought he was trying to remember every inch of his face.

"Yeah. That." He whispers and Arthur and him just stare at each other.

After a what feels like forever Arthur breaks the silence.

"Merlin?" He whispers so close that Merlin can feel his breath on his mouth and is makes him feel all hot and he feels his body turning red. Which is bad because he's such a pale person in general.

"Yeah?"

"What's happening?" And he thinks they've gotten closer but he's not sure. 

"Wish I knew sire." He says and he feels Arthur move closer to him and Arthur's hands move from his lap to Merlins wrists.

"You called me sire. And it wasn't in a mocking way." Merlin blushes and goes to look away but Arthur grabs his jaw and holds it steady in his hand and his eyes widen slightly.

"Yeah. You are the king." Merlin says and Arthur lets out a breathy laugh with a small smile on his face.

"You know you're just eating your words." 

Merlin moves his hands to Arthur's arms and Arthur tenses but just as fast relaxes. His hands move slowly up to Merlins shoulders and holds him steady as they both seem to lean in.


	5. Bathroom Door

Then Merlins phone goes off making Arthur jump back and fall off the couch and Merlin falls back on the arm rest and falls off that way. 

They both sit up and look at each other before looking away just as quick and Merlin shakily stands up and grabs his phone from the coffee table. 

"Y-yeah?" He stampers and Arthur clears his throat looking away and both of them are bright red and well, Merlin is very uncomfortable in his pants at the moment and he's wondering if Arthur is too. 

"Merlin why do you sound out of breath?" Holly asks and Merlin groans. Not now.

He looks over at Arthur to see him staring at Merlin so hard that he feels his body heat up all over again. 

"I'm not." 

"Yes you are did you finally get it on with Arthur? Did I interrupt something?" She asks and Merlin can practically feel her beaming through the phone. Why does she want him to hook up with Arthur so badly?

Not that he's completely against the thought but still.

"No. We didn't hook up. We've never even kissed before." Merlin growls into the phone but apparently loud enough for Arthur to hear because he clears his throat and Merlin looks up to see Arthur move over to him looking more confused than ever. 

Not that Merlin can blame him. He can only get one side of the conversation and it just happened to be the weirdest side.

"Well there's a first time for everything." 

"No. That's not going to happen." He says crossing his arms and Arthur looks at his phone and throws Merlin an even more confused look than before if that's possible.

"How do you know? You aren't really Merlin Merlin. You're just..... Merlin. Not some powerful sorcerer from back in the day. You can't tell the future." She says chuckling and Merlin feels like laughing and crying at the same time.

The sad feeling takes over and he frowns. 

"Hey uh Holly? I've got to go. I'll message you later." He mumbles and hangs up before Holly can say anything else about his and Arthur's non-existing sex lives with each other.

He locks his phone and throws it on the couch. 

"Hey. What's wrong?" Arthur asks walking over to stand next to Merlin. 

"Huh? Oh uh nothing. I'm good." He says shaking his head and running his through his hair and smiles at Arthur.

"Merlin. Come on. I know something's wrong. I know you." 

Merlins smile goes away and he feels scared all over again. 

He lets out a shaky breath and sits down on the edge of the couch and Arthur sits on the coffee table across from him. "What's wrong? You look like I'm about to arrest you for treason." Arthur chuckles.

Merlins eyes widen and Arthur's smile falls and he looks like he's been punched in the gut himself. "I'm not going to arrest you for treason Merlin. I can't even if I really wanted to."

"I know it's just.... I'm scared." He says looking down and he's bracing himself for the laughs of Arthur Pendragon but they never come.

Instead he feels nothing. Hears nothing. 

He opens his eyes to see Arthur looking very worried and a tad concerned. "Why?"

Merlin chuckles to himself and fiddles with his fingers that are placed in his lap. "It's nothing. It's stupid now that I think about it." He tells Arthur who frowns even more. 

"No Merlin. Something is bothering you. I'm here to listen to you." He says and Merlin slowly nods his head after thinking about those words.

"Okay fine." He clears his throat. "I'm scared that I don't have my magic with me anymore." He blurts out and then covers his mouth with his hands trying not to start crying.

"Your magic?" Arthur tries to bite back a smile but fails.

Merlin frowns and mentally smacks himself in his head. "Yes Arthur. My magic. You know the thing you would have killed me for back then?" He says rolling his eyes before they start tearing up again. He glares at Arthur feeling hurt and more than a little betrayed. "Fine then, laugh. You have no idea what's it like." He snaps.

"Merlin I just don't get it. It's just magic...."  Arthur says and Merlin feels his blood boil.

"No you just don't get it Arthur." 

"Well then explain to me Merlin." Arthur snaps back seeming almost just as pissed.

Merlin stands up and Arthur does the same. "I didn't practice magic like everyone else did. I was born with it. Magic is a part of me that will- should- be a part of me forever. I told you because I trusted you that you wouldn't make fun of it. Magic is something that I used to save your clumsy ass so many bloody damn times that I've lost count! You would have been dead the very day I met you if I hadn't used magic to save you and everyone! That includes your father! You, Arthur Pendragon were born of magic and I..... I am magic. You have no clue what it's like to lose a part of you." Merlin yells at Arthur who looks just as pissed.

"Merlin I have been dead for over millions of years! I've lost my own life!" He shouts throwing his hands up. 

"And I haven't?!" Merlin shouts right back and there both breathing heavily but that shuts Arthur up fast.

They stare at each other and there's tears in both there eyes. Moments pass. Merlin breaks it. 

"You have no idea what I've been through." He says between clenched teeth, pushing his finger into Arthur's chest and Arthur grabs his wrist and tears fall from Merlins eyes. "I've been alive all this time going through life after life and watching everyone I know and love die while I stay young and live forever." He manages out between breaths of air and Arthur frowns before tightening his grip on Merlins wrists and he pulls him into a tight hug and he buries his face in the crook of Arthur's neck as he cries hard. 

"Shhh it's okay." He mumbles and Merlin slowly gets his breathing back to normal and pulls back after around 5 minutes of none-stop crying. 

He wipes his cheeks and goes over to the box of Kleenex on the side table and blows his nose in it before throwing it on the coffee table, not caring for it at the moment.

"Have you uh tried using your magic?" Arthur asks and Merlin gives him a stupid look. 

"No because I've forgotten who I was." He says and that just confuses the blonde block even more. "Oh right. Didn't explain that part. I've managed to forget everything about you, Camelot and my life there somehow." He says crossing his arms. 

And that's when he realizes they are both still in there pjs and it's like around 12:30 in the afternoon.

But neither of them seem to care which is odd for Arthur because he would usually be yelling at Merlin for not having his breakfast ready and his clothes out for him. 

But times change.

And he guesses people change as well.

"What do you mean?" 

"I mean I must have thought of a spell and put some sort of block on my mind to forget. Guess I even forgot I had magic. I just hope that part remembers how to use it again." He says and Arthur looks a little sympathetic.

"Why not try?"

"Yes like it's just that easy." Merlin says but then stops himself short. He starts to smile. "It is that easy. I learned how to use magic before I could even speak a single word." He tells Arthur who actually looks very impressed which is odd coming from him.

"Okay well sense it's that easy supposedly this should be as easy as it to escape our dungeons." He says and Merlin snickers then goes full on laughing.

"That is very true." Merlin says and Arthur rolls his eyes but smiles anyway.

"Try your magic Merlin." 

After a moment Merlin closes his eyes and turns to look at something other than Arthur. His eyes land of the door to the downstairs bathroom that's closed.

He holds his hand out, noticing he's shaking a little and swallows. He takes a deep breath before closing his eyes and reopening them again. His hand steady.

"Aliese." He whispers and the door swings open. He feels his body fill with a calming familiar feeling as the magic swells in him and it's like a greeting from an old friend and he feels his eyes change colour as he does the simple spell. He feels his whole body relax then he turns back to Arthur grinning. "I did it. I can still use my magic." 

He throws himself at Arthur feeling overwhelmed with joy at the feel of himself using his magic again. He feels Arthur stiffen quickly but then relaxes and hugs him back just as tight.

"I'm glad." 

They pull apart and Merlin is still grinning like a mad man. 

Merlin looks over at the shelves and the candles flame up making Merlin sigh and he hears Arthur's short intake of breath behind him.

"You didn't even say anything for them to light up...." Arthur says and he turns around smiling a little smug. 

"I told you. I could make things move before I could talk." He shrugs his shoulders like it's an everyday thing for him. 

Arthur just kind of gaps at him.

"Gaius said that you were the most powerful sorcerer to ever live." Arthur says quietly and Merlin nods his head. He then chuckles a little breathless and runs both his hands through his dirty blonde hair. "Clearly that still stands."

Merlin smiles slyly up at Arthur as he flops down on the couch feeling smug as hell. "Clearly." 

He clears his throat, frowning and sits beside Merlin. "Can you tell me what happened?" 

That's not what he was expecting to be honest. 

Merlin blinks at him before realization settles over him at what Arthur is asking of him. "Oh." He looks down at his hands that are white and shaking slightly now. 

Telling Arthur what happened is something Merlin has been dreading. Because that means Merlin has to relive all the deaths and pain he's come to know and hide away. He clears his throat that has suddenly closed up and it's now hard to swallow. 

"Where to start?" His voice comes out raspy. Arthur frowns. 

"Hey, if you don't want to talk about it then we can have this chat some other time." He says quietly and Merlin is so close to giving in and telling Arthur to Google it. 

But then he realizes Arthur doesn't know what Google is.

Instead he says, "Can we save that topic for another time please?" He says and waits for the judgement from Arthur but just like before it never comes. 

"I'm sorry." He looks up and Arthur has sad blue eyes- not sad because Merlin won't tell him. But because of what Merlin had to go through.

"No need to be sorry Arthur. You were dead. You couldn't have done anything even if I wanted you to." Merlin says and Arthur looks even more guilty than before. "Arthur don't look like at me like that. It's not your fault at all." He turns so he's facing Arthur on the couch and hesitates before grabbing Arthur's hands and his gaze flicks to there hands then back up to Merlin's face. 

He lets go just as quick and crosses his arms. "Why don't we go get dressed?" He suggests and stands up, hoping Arthur will just follow. 

He makes his way up the stairs and he hears Arthur's footsteps behind him and thanks whoever is helping him out with this very weird situation.

He goes into his room and Arthur follows behind and softly closes the door. Merlin goes over to his dresser and Arthur sits on Merlin's bed watching him with careful eyes. 

"Do you want to shower?" He asks and physically face palms as Arthur throws him a confused look because Arthur doesn't exactly know what a shower is. Only baths. 

"A shower?"

"Yes Arthur a shower. It's like a bath but.....not?" 

"Merlin that came out more like a question than a statement. Which is it?" 

Merlin groans. "You stand under the water while it sprays down on you and you wash up." He says and Arthur raises an eyebrow.

"Show me." 

And that is how Merlin shows Arthur how to use the shower for the first time ever. 

They're both in the bathroom still when a question is asked. "Will you help me wash up?" Arthur says and Merlin sputters before going 50 shades of red. 

"What?!" 

Arthur looks up confused. "What do you mean what? Are you stupid as you are deaf?" He says and Merlin narrows his eyes at the blonde king.

"I won't help you. I can't help you." He says as he goes out into the hallway to get the blokehead a towel. 

"What do you mean you can't? You always have." Merlin hears Arthur say as he makes his way back to the bathroom. 

He sets the towel down on the sink. "Well times have changed." Is all he says and that isn't a good enough answer for Arthur apparently. 

"That's not good enough. I need an actual answer Merlin." He grabs Merlin by the arm to keep him in the bathroom with him. 

Merlin blushes as he looks away from Arthur. "Arthur please let me go." He says and the king lets go as soon as those words pass Merlin's lips. 

"Why Merlin? You used to always help me with my baths. What has changed so much that you can't even help me with that anymore?" He asks and Merlin groans realizing he's just going to have to tell him. And if Arthur doesn't like it then Arthur can suck a dick. 

Even though we all know he won't actually do that.

"Fine. Why I can't help you is because you're... a guy." He says shrugging and going to leave but Arthur beats him to the door and holds it shut. Merlin sighs and crosses his arms over his chest. "What Arthur? I told you. I gave you an answer." 

"No you didn't. You just said I was a guy. Not like I already didn't know that."

"Cause Arthur, are you really that dumb?" 

"Dumb?"

"Did I stutter?"

"I don't know Merlin did you stutter?" 

"Ouch! You prat." Merlin rubs the back of his head where Arthur hit him.

"Tell me Merlin!"

"You idiot! We've been over this! I'm attracted to guys! You're a guy! I'm sure you can do the math!" Merlin finally yells at Arthur who looks confused but then realization hits him. 

"Oh." Now look who's red.

"Yeah. Oh." An awkward silence blankets over the large bathroom and Merlin doesn't meet Arthur's eyes. 

"So does that mean you're attracted to me?" 

Merlin groans throwing his head back against the door. "Oh dear god." He says before turning around and leaving the bathroom and Arthur to clean and remember how to work the shower. By himself.

Merlin goes to his room and gets out clothes to wear when he has his shower after Arthur is done. He grabs out a blue long sleeved shirt and black skinny jeans and clean boxers. He looks in his mirror and rubs his hand over his cheeks and chin to see a small stubble coming on. 

Arthur hasn't changed much. He looks to same, maybe his hairs a bit longer but not to much where it's noticeable. Unless you're Merlin.

Merlin has gotten stronger and filled out more and his hair has grown much more and is more curly. He's grown a little taller as well. And his accent is a strong Irish one, which he's sure Arthur will mention sooner or later.

He hears the shower turn off and glances at the bedroom door. He shakes his head at how long Arthur will take to dry off and try to get dressed in these new clothes. Merlin chuckles to himself at the thought of Arthur struggling to get dressed. 

He flops back on his bed and sighs at the feel of his blanket on his back. The bed feels much better than his couch. He thinks it's time to clean the spare room for Arthur. 

Unless Arthur wants to leave. Merlin frowns at the thought. 

"Merlin, what do I do with these clothes?" He leans up so he's on his elbows and meets Arthur's eyes with his own blue ones. 

"Laundry basket." He nods at the basket in the corner and Arthur follows his gaze and puts the dirty clothes in it before turning his attention back to Merlin. "Well I'm going to shower real quick." 

He hops up off the bed and makes his way past the old king and goes to the washroom as quick as he can. He curses himself as he realizes he forgot a towel. 

Smooth Merlin. 

He opens the door and goes over to the closet grabbing out a white towel and heading back to the washroom for his own shower. He hangs his towel up and turns the water on to hot as he strips down from his pants and boxers. 

He steps in the hot water and sighs as it washes over him. 

He does what needs to be done and steps out, turning the water off as he does so. 

He steps onto the mat and starts drying off when he notices he didn't bring his clothes in with him. 

He groans loudly and hits the countertop. "Fuck." He mumbles then bites his lip as he wonders if Arthur went downstairs or if he's still in Merlin's bedroom where his clothes are located.

He wraps the towel around his waste and prays to whoever is listening that Arthur isn't in his room still as he slowly makes his way down the hall and towards his room. 

Apparently the gods like messing with him because he almost has a heart attack when he sees Arthur laying on his bed with a book in his hands. 

He looks up and looks Merlin up and down confused as to why Merlin is just in a towel and still damp. "Why aren't you dressed?" He asks putting the book down beside him on the bed. 

Merlin mentally hits himself for putting himself in this problem. "I forgot my clothes." He mumbles.

"Ahh." He stands up and grabs Merlin's clothes from where he moved them to. "You mean these." He says holding them up. 

"Oh god please just give me my clothes so I can get dressed." Merlin tells Arthur who smirks. "I don't like that smirk on your face." He narrows his eyes at the blonde who smirks even more.

"How badly do you want these clothes Merlin?" He asks and Merlin rolls his eyes. 

"You do realize that we are in my room which is full of my clothes, right?" He says and Arthur frowns shaking his head.

"Oh come on Merlin. Mess around a little." He says sending him a teasing a grin and Merlin just chuckles shaking his own head. 

"Arthur, I'm just in a towel. I can't just 'mess around a little' in just a towel." He says crossing his arms, after he tucked the towel tighter around his waist.

"Just a towel huh?" He mumbles as he eyes the white fabric covering Merlin. 

Which makes Merlin worried as he shifts from one foot the the other. "What do you mean 'just a towel'?" 

Arthur then slowly puts the clothes down on the dresser behind him and slowly walks towards Merlin who steps away from him. 

He doesn't notice his mistake till after it happens. 

Arthur is now at the door and locks it. 

Oh shit.

"Arthur what are you doing?" 

Arthur just smirks and leans against the door, locking Merlin in the room with him.

"I just have a few questions about today's society." He says and now Merlin is even more confused.

"What."

"Just some questions. That's all." He says putting his hands up in mock surrender even though the smirk is still on his face.

"And you need me in a towel for that because why?" He asks and Arthur just throws him a grin that usually meant he was going to get in trouble or a good yelling at. Or you know, something along those lines. "Okay fine. Ask."

"Good. Okay. So, about you sharing a bed with guys-" Merlin groans throwing his head back. "I wanna know what people think about that."

He tightens the towel again as it loosened a little. "Most people don't care anymore. I've watched it change and become more open to the public and lots of people are with the same gender now because people are more excepting now." He says shrugging feeling awkward having this conversation with Arthur while in a towel. 

"So everyone is okay with it?" 

Merlin shakes his head. "No not everyone. There are people out there who hate it and are against it completely. But people mostly just brush them off." He says shrugging and Arthur furrows his eyebrows thinking. 

"Okay so if I were to, I don't know date a guy today's society wouldn't care?" He says and Merlin feels a stab in his gut but he brushes it off. 

"Yeah. Just like I could date anyone or you know, sleep with anyone and no one would care." He says chuckling and sits on the bed.

"I would care." Arthur says then when Merlin looks at him he looks away at something random in Merlin's room. 

"You would care? Why? You never seemed to care before." But then he thinks back to the time when he was with Guinevere and seemed upset that he was with someone, a girl at the time.

"Because. What if I wanted you all to myself like old times?" He says and Merlin shakes his head. 

"Arthur you can't just do that anymore. I'm free to be with whoever I want and when I want. I'm not your servant anymore." He says standing up again because he really needs to get dressed.

Arthur is still leaning against the door and frowns. "Okay fine next question." And it's seems like that's Merlin's Que to sit back down again. 

So he does. 

"They don't care about public affection between two males? Or females?" He asks and Merlin blushes bright red. 

Why this topic out of all of them?

"Well it depends on what you mean by public affection." He says clearing his throat.

"Like kissing. And hand holding and maybe making out in a park or somewhere." He says shrugging and Merlin gets images of him and Arthur doing just that and he turns bright red and his body gets all hot. He shifts in his seat on the bed and uncrosses then crosses his arms again. 

"Um that's all okay. Just don't go wild on the making out part though." He says chuckling awkwardly. 

"And you obviously are okay with all this, correct?" Arthur asks and he seems to have moved without Merlin hearing or knowing this.

He looks up startled. "Yeah obviously." 

Arthur then sits in front of him on the bed. "So if I were to kiss you, you wouldn't mind?" 

And that's when Merlin feels his whole world come to a stop. 

"What." He breathes out and Arthur sits patiently waiting for an answer from Merlin who has seemed to have lost his ability to speak- and of all god awful times that could happen as well.

"Could I kiss you?" 

Wow, way to be blunt about it Arthur.

Merlin clears his throat and blinks before slowly nodding his head.


	6. "Show me a trick."

Recap:

 

Arthur then sits in front of him on the bed. "So if I were to kiss you, you wouldn't mind?" 

And that's when Merlin feels his whole world come to a stop. 

"What." He breathes out and Arthur sits patiently waiting for an answer from Merlin who has seemed to have lost his ability to speak- and of all god awful times that could happen as well.

"Could I kiss you?" 

Wow, way to be blunt about it Arthur.

Merlin clears his throat and blinks before slowly nodding his head.

\-------------------------->

"Are you sure?" Arthur says but doesn't seem to concerned that Merlin will turn him away.

"I'm sure." Merlin whispers either to himself or Arthur he doesn't really know or seem to care at the moment. 

Arthur then slowly closes the distance between them and stops short at the last possible moment and Merlin starts panicking that he's changed his mind and is about to start freaking out but that all stops when he feels Arthur's chapped lips on his. 

Actually everything stops. 

Time, the world, his breathing, Arthur, just everything.

He realizes he hasn't made any move to kiss back and he closes his eyes and kisses him back gently, just like Arthur is doing.

He's dreamed of this moment for so so long, he never ever thought it could ever happen in a million years. 

But here he is. Kissing King Arthur of Camelot on his bed and um only in a towel. 

He forgot about the towel thing. 

Seems like so did Arthur.

Arthur slowly moves closer to Merlin and slowly and very hesitantly adds tongue into the kiss and Merlin swallows a soft moan that tries to escape. 

If he let it out, Arthur would never let him live it down. And that's a long time to be teased about it.

Merlin slowly places his right hand on the kings right cheek and then puts the other one on his other cheek. 

Arthur's hands seem like they don't know what to do or where to go so they gently sit on Merlin's legs. Once in a while squeezing.

Merlin pulls back a little and slowly opens his eyes to see Arthur's are still gently closed.

They slowly open to a bright blue and Merlin starts panicking again at how Arthur will react. 

It was his idea to begin with anyway. But still this is Arthur he's talking about. He's very unpredictable as he can clearly see.

"I uh." Is all Arthur seems to be able to say and he doesn't make any move to pull away or to take Merlin's hands off his face. 

"Yeah?" Is all Merlin says and Arthur's gaze flicks down then back up to Merlin's eyes and he slowly gives a small smile, cheeks pink.

Arthur clears his throat. "I enjoyed that more then I thought I would." He mumbles before glancing at Merlin's mouth and then back up to his eyes again. 

Merlin grins and Arthur soon joins him. Then he's shocking Merlin even more by kissing him again.

Merlin's eyes are wide at the sudden force that's pushed him over and is now on him, kissing him. 

He closes his eyes and kisses back with just as much force and moves his hands from Arthur's face, through his hair and to the back of his neck and Arthur's hands go to different places as well. One is on Merlin's face and the other is holding him up so he doesn't crush Merlin. 

This kiss is nothing like the first one they just shared a few moments ago. Arthur pulls back and looks down at Merlin with a look Merlin has seen very few times but didn't know what it was. 

He still doesn't know what it is if he's being completely honest.

But then Arthur just has to go and break the mood.

"Merlin you need to shave." 

Merlin then starts chuckling and Arthur soon joins him. Once they stop laughing neither of them seem to know what to do. 

By the feel of things they both know what they want to do. 

And Arthur seems to like that idea because just as quick he's back to kissing Merlin again and Merlin smiles into the kiss. Arthur moves so he's between Merlin's legs properly now and then frowns pulling back from him and looking down to see the towel is in the way and his gaze goes back up to Merlin's face. 

And that's when Merlin sits up and making Arthur sit up with him confused as to what he's doing. 

When clearly this is what he wants to be doing.

"Merlin, what's wrong?" Arthur asks his blonde hair tousled and his white t-shirt crinkled. And his jeans look a tad uncomfortable.

Merlin blinks at Arthur and then clears his throat. "Nothing it's just that, well you're new to all this.... stuff and it's only been a day sense I got you back and you literally know nothing about this world now." He says and not caring that he's jumping topics like a frog. He stands up and moves towards the closet and away from the blonde with the tempting blue eyes.

"I thought you said you didn't mind if I kissed you? Or was that just to be nice to me?" He says frowning and is now bright red. Nervous.

"I didn't mind. Not at all. Just that it's been a day Arthur. Just last week you were still in the lake dead." He says and tightens his now very lose towel but then regrets it. 

He clears his throat again. Not that it needed to be cleared. His mind needs to be cleared though. 

"Merlin, sure it's only been a day sense I've been back but I've known you for years and same for you to me. We know each other already very well if I do say so myself." He says coming over to Merlin so there face to face, even though Merlin is just a tad taller than Arthur . 

"You have a point." He mumbles but Arthur is so close that he hears him and grins. "But we do need to go out and get food and some other things. I'm tired of eating out constantly." He says before going over to his clothes that are on the dresser where Arthur placed them and slipping his boxers on under his towel. 

He lets the towel drop and goes over to put it in the basket but bumping into Arthur while turning around to go back to the rest of his clothes. 

He looks conflicted for a second before grabbing Merlin's face again and kissing him hard but quick and he then slowly grins pulling away, nodding to himself as he goes out of the room leaving Merlin beyond confused in the middle of his bedroom in his dark plaid blue boxers. 

He looks at the doorway and then makes his way back to his clothes and gets dressed while shaking his head. He grabs an extra sweater for the confusing blonde downstairs and grabs two pairs of socks before heading down the stairs.

He goes over to the living room couch and sits on it beside Arthur who is flipping through a book that was on the table. He puts his socks on and hands Arthur the sweater he grabbed and the extra pair of socks. Arthur seems to like going through books.

Arthur gives him a confused look but takes the navy blue sweater and pair of white socks anyway without asking questions. 

Merlin puts his on as Arthur looks at him then at his feet then back at his face. 

"It's cold out." Is all Merlin says grabbing his phone from the coffee table before heading to the kitchen and Arthur follows silently.

"Um what do I put on?" Merlin looks up to see a confused king in his kitchen and he silently chuckles to himself. 

Merlin never thought that this scene would ever be played. 

Merlin goes over to his closet where all his extra jackets and shoes and stuff is held and grabs out an extra pair of boots and a jacket that's a tad to big on him that Holly got him last year. And yet it still doesn't fit him.

He goes over to Arthur and hands him the stuff making him smile. "You know," he says. "This used to be the opposite." Arthur says shrugging on the jacket that actually seems to fit him and so does the shoes. 

"Well yeah. But you don't have all that stuff you used to." He says putting his own stuff on and throws a blue scarf around his neck and- now the colour change the other day makes way more sense. 

He zips up his jacket, grabs his wallet before grabbing his keys and phone off the counter where he placed them. 

He opens the door for Arthur to go out and he locks it up behind him, hoping to God Holly doesn't break in like this morning and do something.

"We need to get you some of your own stuff." He says as he walks down the path and towards the sidewalk. "I mean I have some of your stuff, or my stuff..... not sure who's it really is if I'm being completely honest." Merlin says as he stuffs his hands in his pockets to keep them warm from the chilly breeze that's going around them.

He sees Arthur has the same idea. 

Arthur looks at him sideways and then shakes his head. "I fought, I died, came back and you're still as boring and confusing as ever." He says and Merlin frowns looking at him, mock offend. 

They walk the rest of the way making small chat about stupid stuff as they enter the store.

He opens his mouth to say something but a voice cuts him off.

"Merlin!" He looks from Arthur to the small girl who now has her arms wrapped around his legs. 

"Hello Clary. How are you?" He asks as she pulls back a little and grins up at him. 

"Much better now that you're here to save me. Mum! I'm going with Merlin now! Bye!" She yells behind her as he sees Joy come up to them shaking her head at Clary who now has her arms around his legs again. 

"Clary. Maybe Merlin doesn't want you to hang onto him like that?" She says and Clary gives her a look of disbelief.

"Doesn't want me to hang on him? Well that's kind of silly mum. Merlin loves me." She says and hugs him even tighter and Arthur is just kind of standing off to the side confused as to why a child likes Merlin to begin with let alone wants to hug him.

Clary then looks over at Arthur and looks back at Merlin confused. "Who's that?" She asks.

He looks up and meets Arthur's amused yet still confused expression. 

"That's my, uh." He furrows his eyes brows. What is Arthur to him? 

His king? 

His housemate? 

His dead friend who isn't dead anymore?

His-? 

He honestly has no idea what to call him. 

Then he looks back down at the waiting child and smiles softly. "He's an old friend of mine." 

Old is an understatement. 

"Oh." She says. "What's his name?" She whispers loud enough for both of them to hear but only meant for Merlin. 

He leans down to her level. "Why don't you go ask him?" 

She then shrugs her small shoulders and wonders off to Arthur who tries to bite back a smile. 

She looks up, crosses her arms and huffs. "Who are you?" She asks and he raises his eyebrows at the demanding tone from such a small human. 

"Clary." Her mum says and Clary just smiles at her mum before turning back to Arthur.

Reminds him of how Morgana used to be. He shakes the thought out of his head. Clary ain't even close to what Morgana used to be like. Nothing alike at all. Maybe demanding but what from Merlin has found out- that's most children these days.

"I'm Merlin's.... friend. Like he said." Arthur says and she slowly nods her head, like she's agreeing with him in her own little world. 

"And what is your name tall blonde man who is my Merlin's friend?" 

And Merlin starts to snicker at this as Arthur is now mildly amused. Hers? 

"Well small child, my name is Arthur." He says and she frowns at the name 'small child' but then grins at his name. 

"Wait!" She says ask she looks back and forth between the two boys. "Like Merlin and Arthur? Like the king and his servant from back in the days where they didn't have wifi?" She asks grinning and Merlin notices she has finally lost that tooth she's been complaining about the past few times she's been over and Arthur looks confused as she mentions wifi.

"You two are a very strange pair, you know with the names and all." Joy says trying hard not to break out into a big smile. 

"Yeah we are." Merlin says and looks back at the two others.

Arthur then chuckles and smirks a little at Merlin. "Yes. Can I tell you a secret?" He asks and she nods her head quickly. Arthur leans down and whispers something in her ear to make her gasp and cover her mouth with her hands. 

She looks over at Merlin beaming and puts both of her hands on her face and squeals on the spot. 

She runs over to her mum. "Mum can I stay with them for the day? Oh please!" She begs Joy and her mom looks up at me and I nod my head once, twice. Not like this hasn't happened before on many similar occasions. You know, just minus Arthur.

"Sure." She says and just as those words are spoken, Clary is at Merlin's side with his hand in her small one and she's got her other hand over her mouth again and is grinning so much that Merlin thought her face would break in two.

"I'll come get her later." Joy says chuckling before waving goodbye and leaving the two lads with the small way-to-happy girl. 

"Well," Merlin says as he looks down at a very happy girl. "Why are you smiling like that? What did Arthur tell you?" He looks over at Arthur with narrowed eyes. "What did you tell her?"

Arthur puts his hands up in mock surrender. "Only the truth Merlin." He then turns away but not before Merlin caught sight of the smirk on the kings face.

'Prat.' Merlin thinks.

They walk through the store and find clothes for Arthur and Merlin makes him try stuff on- even though Arthur protests each and every single time. 

In the end he got Arthur 4 new shirts and 4 pairs of pants, some socks, boxers and a new pair of boots. Not like he won't steal some of Merlin's clothes that are to big on him anyway.

Merlin isn't buying him a coat yet. He can keep wearing the one he has on. 

And Clary still hasn't said anything. 

Only grinning and every once in awhile she'll stare at Merlin with huge eyes and dopey smile on her face like a kid at at Disney, seeing their favourite character for the very first time. 

Merlin thought the kid was weird before but whatever Arthur said to her amped it up a few notches. 

They make it to the house after spending a good chunk of the day buying food for the house and stuff for Arthur.

They place everything on the island in the middle of the kitchen and Clary goes off into the living room, most likely to watch tv. She usually does that when she's over.

Merlin tells Arthur where everything goes and what does what and how things work nowadays. Very vaguely. 

Arthur is confused. 

Merlin is very amused. 

Clary is ignoring them both and watching Disney Channel.

Lemonade Mouth is on and he can hear Clary singing softly to the songs they sing.

"So," Merlin says as he puts a can of soup away. "what did you tell Clary?" He asks and Arthur just shakes his head and keeps smirking. 

"Why don't you just ask her?" He says shrugging and going into the living room, leaving Merlin to put the last few things away. 

He shakes his head while rolling his eyes as he closes the cupboard and puts the grapes and juice away along with some waffles that go in the freezer. He goes into the living room and as he steps in Clary squeals making both Arthur and Merlin jump a little. She jumps off the couch in a bounce. 

"Merlin!" She yells and hugs his legs again. He looks at Arthur confused and he just looks like he's having a grand old time. 

He looks back down. "Clary. What are you doing?" She looks up at him and then runs over to the couch again and sits on the arm rest in front of him. 

"Show me a trick." 

Merlin raises his eyebrows confused as he looks at Arthur who is just grinning at him. 

Merlin's heart beat picks up a little. 

"A trick? What do you mean?" He asks his eyes going back to Clary. 

"Like a magic trick. You are Merlin. You can do magic. Arthur told me you can. He said to me that you're really Merlin. The Merlin." She says and claps her hands together and swings her legs back and forth.

"C'mon Merlin. As your king I command you do some magic for our small guest." He says and Clary squeals as he calls himself king and Arthur then realizes his mistake, wincing slightly. 

"You're King Arthur?! No way!" 

Clearly she didn't put two and two together completely. 

She turns back to Merlin. "He's the king. You have to do what he says. Rules are rules Merlin. Out of all people, you should know that." She giggles. 

Arthur snickers but turns it into a cough but Merlin narrows his eyes at him. He then glances back at Clary who is grinning so much her eyes are little slits.

"Okay fine. I'll do something simple." He says as he goes over to his shelf and grabs a candle. He places it on the coffee table in front of the couch. Clary jumps off the arm rest and crosses her legs sitting on the couch cushion facing him now with her hands clasped together in her lap. Even Arthur is watching Merlin with interested eyes.

He sits on his knees in front of Arthur and Clary. He looks down at the candle and whispers, loud enough for them to hear. "Baerne." He can see his reflection in the coffee table as his eyes change to gold. The feeling of magic swells in him and he sighs at the feeling. And then the candle lights up.

Clary gasps loudly and he looks up to see her dumbstruck, staring at the candle with big eyes. He glances at Arthur who can't take his eyes off the lit fire. He looks back at the child.

She then looks up at Merlin and screams. 

Then she throws her body at Arthur, completely throwing both boys off guard. 

"You're really them! You're really Merlin and King Arthur!" She says as she holds onto Arthur's neck as she hugs him. 

She then lets go and rushes over to Merlin like she's done so many times before but this time is very different. 

"Can you call a dragon for me?" She asks and Arthur's head snaps up to meet Merlin's wide eyes. 

He also hasn't told Arthur about the whole Dragon Lord thing either. 

"Uh." He stampers. "Clary. There aren't any dragons left." He says and saying it makes it all so much true. There really isn't any left. 

She frowns. "You don't happen to have a dragon egg with you, do you?" She says and he frowns. 

"Not that I know of." He says shaking his head and she just sighs. Then he remembers all those boxes in the basement and that he really doesn't know what's in those boxes. 

"Okay. Well making a candle light up is pretty awesome to." She yawns and turns the tv back on, ignoring both the king and his manservant.

Merlin then gets a weird feeling in his stomach as he remembers all the random boxes in the spare room once again. 

He jumps up quickly and runs down stairs to the basement where the one spare room is that has all the boxes and stuff that is probably by now worth so much. 

"Merlin. Merlin, wait." He hears Arthur say to him as he rushes down the stairs behind him. "Merlin will you just hold on a bloody second." He says finally reaching Merlin who is standing in the door way of the spare room. "What are you - oh." 

Boxes that he didn't know he had somehow appeared and are all stacked sky high. There was not that many boxes here before.

Well roof high in this case. 

"That's a lot of boxes." Arthur lets out a low whistle. "And what does she mean by call a dragon for her? You couldn't have possibly been able to do that?" He says and Merlin frowns, staring at the boxes. 

"I really hope I wasn't so stupid." He mumbles to himself but clearly Arthur heard and grows confused. He ignores Arthur all together focusing at the task at hand.

"No Merlin, you were and clearly you still are." He says as he watches Merlin slowly make his way through the boxes to the far back wall. 

He comes back out with a normal size box and Arthur reads the side. "Don't open." In all big capital letters in a bold black marker 

"Merlin," He says in a warning tone as he follows Merlin over to the couch. "That says don't open on it and I'm sure you wrote that for a very good reason." 

Merlin sets the box down on the coffee table and closes his eyes. "I really feel like going back  in time and smacking myself. If this is what I think it is, we're doomed." He says and Arthur tilts his head.

Merlin sighs and slowly starts opening the box. He gets the tape off and swallows as he slowly opens the flaps. 

He looks inside and closes the flaps just as quick. His mouth gone dry. 

"Son of a-" 

"Merlin, what are you doing?" Clary asks rubbing her left eye as she slowly walks over to them from the stairs. 

"Nothing. Just going through some old stuff of mine and Arthur's." He says but he feels all clammy and he feels a panic attack coming on. "Clary why don't you go find a movie to watch? I'll put it on for you in a second okay? I just have to clean up." He says and she glances at the room full of boxes and nods her head slowly. 

She slowly makes her way up the stairs and as soon as she's out of ear shot, Merlin bolts up and starts pacing and biting his lip while fidgeting with his hands. He runs both hands through his hair and slightly pulls.

"Merlin will you tell me what this is all about. And for gods sake stop pacing, you're making me anxious." Arthur says getting annoyed with the Warlock. 

Merlin stops pacing and glances at the box. "That." He says nodding to the box. "Is my problem." He says then comes back and sits in front of the box. "We're going to need to move. Somewhere far far away with no else around for hundreds of miles." He says putting his head in his hands. 

"That doesn't answer my question Merlin." He says grabbing his arm before he can start pacing again. 

"Look in the box. Gently. Don't move it." Merlin says and Arthur grows even more confused. 

He lets go of Merlin and slowly opens the flaps of the box.

And he peers inside. He closes it up just like Merlin and maybe even faster.

He goes pale. 

"Merlin. Don't tell me that's what I think it is." He says closing his eyes. 

"It is."


	7. Family Tree

"Why." Arthur says crossing his arms as Merlin is now pacing back and fourth again.  "On earth do you have that?" They've just put Lady and The Tramp on for Clary but she's already asleep and Joy should be here soon to pick her up. Thank god, he doesn't want to have to deal with Clary and Arthur. Especially since Clary knows the truth now.

Merlin rubs his hands together and he feels his magic start to bubble just beneath his skin, making him feel all tingly and on edge.

"I have no idea Arthur, honestly. I guess I just wanted to save them?" He says sounding even more confused then he frowns. "Wait. The Great Dragon said that you would return when Avalon needed you the most.... he couldn't have been talking about that.... right?" He says then shakes his head again and feels his magic bubble even more at the thought.

"The dragon? What on earth are you talking about?" Arthur says throwing his hands up growing even more confused as the seconds tick by. Not that Merlin blames him or anything, if he were in Arthur's position he'd be confused as hell right now as well. 

"Argh!" Merlin whisper shouts and the glass coffee table shatters loudly as his magic reaches its peak and bursts out, his eyes going gold for longer than few seconds this time. 

He looks at Arthur, his eyes still golden and slowly fading in the dim light of the basement. Arthur looks at the coffee table with huge eyes but he thankfully grabbed the box before it could fall with the broken glass.

"Merlin."

Merlin closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before opening his eyes again and there back to there normal bright blue colour. He sits back on the couch beside Arthur and gently takes the box from him and sets it on the floor beside him. He puts his head in his hands. We're all doomed.

He feels Arthur put a hand on his shoulder and Merlin lets out a long breath. "I don't know what to do. I forgot all about it. Didn't even realize I had it with me." 

And this just makes Merlin wonder what else he forgot he has.

Now is not the time. One problem at a time.

Arthur opens his mouth to speak but a knock on the door breaks them out of the past and brings them back to the present. They both go upstairs, carefully avoiding the box and trying to make little noise as they can.

Merlin goes over to the door while Arthur stands at the entry to the living room.

Merlin unlocks and opens the door to find Joy standing on the other side smiling with her coat pulled up around her neck and a deep purple scarf wrapped around her neck and a pretty black hat on her head. "Hello Merlin, Arthur." She says as she steps in and closes the door behind her to keep the cold out and the warmth in.

"Hello. Oh uh fair warning. Clary thinks that me and Arthur are really King Arthur and the magical Warlock Merlin." He says and she rolls her eyes but smiles. 

"Of course she does." She mumbles and Arthur comes in the kitchen carrying a sleeping Clary and Joy smiles at the sight. 

He gently sets her on the cushioned chair and gets her coat on and shoes while she's sleeping still and Merlin can't help but chuckle slightly to himself. 

Imagine Arthur doing this back in Camelot? 

"You know, I always say this to Merlin but I'm saying it to you as well.... You'd make a great dad." She says. 

Arthur looks up at them from zipping up her coat. "Thank you, but my time for having any children is long past." He says and only Merlin hears the small sound of sadness and disappointment in his voice but he grins at Joy anyway.

He finishes putting her stuff on and hands her off to Joy. "There is always a right time to have children, you just have to find it. Oh and I'm sure your lady is out there somewhere." She says chuckling slightly and Merlin looks away and Arthur looks down. 

"Yeah, buried somewhere 6 feet underground. And has been for the past millions of years." He thinks to himself but he's sure Arthur is thinking the same thing if not similar.

Joy then looks at both boys and clears her throat, making both boys look up. "Unless you two are together." She says pointing at them with raised eyebrows with a small smirk. Merlin feels his face heat up and he goes red.  "Because if that's the case then you two could always adopt." She says shrugging her shoulders as she picks up Clary and heads out. 

Leaving the long forgotten king and the old Warlock standing in the kitchen going over stuff in there heads. Stuff they never thought they'd think of.

Merlin clears his throat and breaks the awkward atmosphere after a few tense moments of silence. "You said you wanted to find out what happened right? Well come with me and I'll show you a way you can find out." He says and doesn't meet Arthur's gaze as he walks past him and up the stairs to his room. 

He grabs his laptop and heads back down the stairs to see Arthur biting his lip with a frustrated look on his face. Merlin sits on the couch ignoring Arthur all together and fires up his Mac.

He feels the couch dip beside him and he can feel the confusion coming off of the old king. 

Right. Merlin hasn't shown him what this is. Oh well he's about to find out.

"This is what people call a computer. Well, a laptop actually but it's the same thing basically." He goes on glancing at him and Arthur nods his head slowly. 

Merlin clicks on the Chrome icon and goes to google search and types in "King Arthur Story" then clicks enter and when he can't find what he's looking for he goes back up the search at and changes the words. "King Arthur Legend" and clicks search and a website for a family history tree comes up. 

"What's that?" Arthur says quickly beside Merlin and he clicks it. 

His eyes widen. 

It shows Arthur's whole family. All the way to the bottom where Arthur is. And on the sides as little bushes are all his knights and close friends.

"My father." He mumbles as a clear photo of Uther comes up. Well it's a drawing but damn close to looking like an actual photo.

He scrolls down and you see Arthur. 

And beside him you see a smiling queen. 

Also known as Gwen. 

Arthur makes a choked sound and puts his head in his hands. Merlin sits still and keeps staring at the beautiful picture of Gwen. 

He finally puts his hand on Arthur's shoulder. "You should know that she did an amazing job Arthur. Making her queen was the best decision you've probably ever made." He says and Arthur looks up and Merlin feels his heart sink at the sight of Arthur crying. "She lifted the ban on magic and everyone was happy. We didn't have another war for years." He says and Arthur smiles small. 

"Yeah. She could easily have stopped a war from happening if she wanted to." He says and Merlin nods his head. "So Morgana never attacked again?" 

Merlin then clears his throat. "She couldn't have even if she wanted to. She died." He says and Arthur sits up straighter. 

"What? When? How?" He asks and Merlin sighs. 

Here we go.

"She died the same day you did." He says slowly and then hesitates. "I killed her." He says and he feels Arthur stiffen beside him. 

Then very quietly he whispers. 

"You killed someone?" 

Merlin then looks over at Arthur and meets his blue eyes that are filled with wonder and- it breaks Merlin's heart- a bit of fear. 

Arthur's scared of him.

He looks away and clasps his hands together to keep them from trembling. "She sent Mordred to kill you. And he did. And while she was alive and breathing, more people would have died. I couldn't let her go." He says feeling his magic bubble again at just the thought of Mordred and Morgana. 

He closes his eyes and wills himself to calm down. 

Arthur is silent for a few moments and Merlin begin to worry. He looks over to see Arthur staring the screen and Morgana's smiling face. 

The picture was taken before she became evil obviously. 

He ignores the ache in his stomach at the sight of Arthur's fear directed at him. 

Caused by him.

"Anyway." He mumbles as he goes down the tree and gets to the bottom and smiles as he sees the knights. 

He feels Arthur relax a little next to him once the knights come into view. 

"Gwaine." Arthur chuckles and shakes his head and Merlin feels a heavy weight on his chest. 

Gwaine was a very good friend to Merlin and to everyone. 

Who couldn't like Gwaine?

Then next was Lancelot. 

Merlin frowns and swallows and he feels Arthur deflate even more than before.

"If there is one knight I miss the most, it has to be Lancelot." Merlin says and clears his throat but not before it closes up and he feels his eyes start to sting. 

"Agreed." He hears Arthur mumbles quietly. Merlin looks over to see Arthur already watching him. 

"Lancelot knew about my magic." Merlin blurts out and Arthur raises his eyebrows and looks shocked. 

"I beg your pardon."

Merlin chuckles lightly. "Lancelot knew I had magic. He caught me using it. When he defeated the creature with the jousting lance.... I enchanted it so he could kill the beast and you would allow him to stay as a knight." He says and Arthur then smacks Merlin upside the head. "Ow! What the bloody hell was that for?"

"That was for not coming clean about how it was really you I should have knighted all along." He says narrowing his eyes and Merlin's rolls his.

"Oh yeah?" He asks grinning over at Arthur who's eyes are narrowed. "And what exactly would you have done about it back then? Because if I'm correct you would have had me burned at the stake in front of the entire kingdom." He says and the words are bitter coming out without meaning to in the end.

Arthur seems to notice this and looks down at his hands with a frown on his face. Merlin looks back at the screen with a frown on his face as well.

"I never would have let them harm you." He says quietly as Merlin feels his heart squeeze and his stomach goes into a knot thinking of being burned. 

He's thought about it many times. 

How he would escape if it ever came down to it. If he would survive the flames that were meant to kill him. The one thing meant to being him harm.

He slowly opens his eyes to look at Arthur who is meeting his gaze. "I would have made sure that your secret was safe and I would have helped you out of the kingdom. No one would have hurt you. No one would have known." He says never breaking his gaze from Merlin's intense blue ones. 

"I could never have left you Arthur. Even if my life was at stake, which was technically everyday." He says and let's out a sigh. "And I could never have put you in the position to pick between your father and me." Merlin tells him while searching his eyes for any sign or disappointment or even the fear he saw before.

But all he sees is Arthur looking at him with a "you're definitely an idiot" look.

"Merlin. If I had to pick between you and my father. Which one do you think I would have picked? Honestly?" He asks and Merlin furrows his eyebrows frowning. 

"Your father. Hands down. You always follow what he says and something as serious as magic you have no choice but to follow through." He says and those are the wrong words apparently because Arthur is frowning deeply.

"Merlin. I've disobeyed my father so many times for you. And I would have chosen you over my father no matter what. Even if it is as bad as magic." He says and hesitates before grabbing Merlin's hands with his own. "I choose you. Magic or not." He says and looks up from under his eye lashes at Merlin's expression. 

"Oh Merlin, don't cry. You remind me of a girl when you cry." He says trying to lighten the mood and Merlin didn't even notice he was crying till he feels a wet spot form on his and Arthur's hands. 

He wipes his face and he can't even bring himself to laugh at Arthur calling him a girl, he looks back down at his lap instead and sniffles. 

"You would really have kept it a secret from your father?" He asks his voice all watery. "For me?" He whispers the last part but there sitting so close that Arthur heard it with no problem.

"Merlin." He says and grabs Merlin's face and turns it so there looking at each other, blue eyes meets blue eyes once again. "Can't you see? I would have done anything for you. I would rather throw myself in harms way than see you get hurt by the hands of my father. Or anyone out to hurt you." He says and Merlin feels more tears come and go down his cheeks and he doesn't care that Arthur calls him a girl for it. 

He throws himself at Arthur and wraps his arms around his neck and buries his face in Arthur's neck. "I've wanted to tell you my secret for so long. It killed me inside everyday." He mumbles into the crook of Arthur's neck while sobbing.

Arthur wraps his arms around Merlin tightly, as if he's going to be taken away from him any second and he closes his eyes. 

"I would have never hurt you." He mumbles into Merlin's shoulder. He pulls back slowly and meets Merlin's watery gaze. He puts his hand on the side of Merlin's face and wipes some tears that have managed to escape the corner of his eye.

"Your tears keep escaping. Kind of like people from our dungeons." Arthur says and Merlin frowns. 

"Haven't you made that joke before?" He asks and Arthur smiles. 

"Yeah. But it's not really a joke when it's true, is it?" He asks and Merlin chuckles and shakes his head. 

"Guess not." He mumbles and looks at the computer screen that has gone down a notch, warning it's about to go into the sleep mode. 

He taps the mouse so it brightens up again and looks at the time and sees it's already 11:45pm and Arthur still hasn't found out what happened.

"I think we should go to bed." He mumbles and Arthur nods his head agreeing with him but neither of them move. 

He sighs and slowly pulls himself away from Arthur who is watching his every move and he powers down his laptop and closes it. 

He pushes it so its in the middle of the table and won't get knocked off. He then slowly stands up and turns around stretching his arms over his head and yawns. 

He looks down at Arthur who is trailing his eyes up Merlin till they meet his eyes. 

"Lets get you settled in for the night. We can deal with the spare room thing tomorrow." He mumbles and Arthur stands up and yawns as well which triggers Merlin to yawn again. 

They make there way up stairs and down the hall to Merlin's room to get Arthur ready for bed. 

They go into his room and Merlin walks over to the dresser and grabs out a pair of pj pants for Arthur and debates if Arthur will need a shirt or not. 

He'll probably just take it off in his sleep so what's the point. 

Merlin shrugs and turns around only to find Arthur sitting on the bed watching Merlin in only his boxers. Merlin's face heats up and he quickly hands Arthur the pair of pj pants. 

Arthur smirks but doesn't say anything as he puts the pants on and Merlin doesn't meet his eyes. 

"I'll be on the couch if you need anything." He mumbles before grabbing out a pair of pants for himself.

"Wait what?" Merlin hears as he goes into the hall to grab a clean blanket. "What do you mean on the couch?" Arthur asks frowning coming from the room and leans against the wall beside Merlin, blocking his way to the stairs.

Merlin sighs. "I'm sleeping on the couch. You have my bed." He says and Arthur raises an eyebrow which makes Merlin groan. "You're the king. You have my bed you sire." He says and steps around Arthur. 

But Arthur grabs his arm making him stop and turn back around to almost smack faces with the blonde block. 

"Merlin. Now is not the time or year to act like a servant. You're a few million years off." He says and Merlin cracks a small smile which makes Arthur grin. 

"Yes sire." He whispers and Arthur shakes his head. 

"Now come Merlin. It's your bed." He says and Merlin frowns as Arthur drags him back by the arm to his room. 

"I don't understand."

"I'm trying so hard not to make a comment on that." He says and Merlin sticks his tongue out at the back of Arthur's blonde head and he doesn't care if he's being childish or not.

"We are going to share the bed." He says grinning at Merlin like it's the best idea ever. 

"Share? You? Sire, are you sick or something?" He asks and puts the back of his hand to Arthur's forehead only to have Arthur swat it away and hit Merlin on the back of the head. "Argh. Again? Seriously?"

"Shut up Merlin." Arthur just smirks and sits on the bed and pulls Merlin down with him. "We're sharing a bed and that's final." He says in that voice where you have no room to argue. The voice Merlin has missed so much.

Merlin sighs and rolls his eyes but is secretly grateful he doesn't have to sleep on the couch again. 

He gets off the bed and goes back over to the door and shuts it. He grabs his pj pants from the floor where they fell when Arthur was dragging him and takes off his shirt and jeans from the day, not caring if Arthur sees. 

He then puts the pj pants on and collects his clothes from the day and puts them in his laundry basket and mentally tells himself to do laundry tomorrow.

He looks over to find Arthur's blue eyes staring at him intensely and Merlin frowns and shuffles from one foot to the other before walking over to his side of the bed and climbing in. 

But then gets out and turns the lights off before climbing back in and under the heavy blue blankets. 

The air is thick and heavy and he's not sure why. 

He has a few ideas but none that actually would make sense at this time. He shuffles and turns on his side so his back is facing Arthur. 

He pulls the blanket up around his shoulders and buries his face in his pillow before letting out a soft sigh at how nice the bed feels compared to the couch down stairs. 

It's comfy just not bed comfy. 

"I'm sorry." Arthur says quietly and Merlin tenses before easing himself to relax again.

"Sorry for what?" 

"For making you go through living in fear everyday." He says. "And for making you go through the past even though you didn't want to." He says and Merlin feels the bed shift behind him. 

Silence follows. 

"You were scared of me." Merlin says. 

"Back then? I highly doubt I would have been if I'd known." He says chuckling softly. 

"No." Merlin says quietly. "Today." He says and the tension in the air thickens and Merlin feels like he's going to explode from the weight, his magic swirling around inside of him. 

The silence that follows is heavy and harsh. 

"Oh," Arthur mumbles. Then quietly adds, "you noticed that?" 

And Merlin feels his whole world crumble and is about to get out of the bed and maybe even leave the house and stay at Holly's.

"I was scared because I didn't know what you're capable of." He says and Merlin frowns and turns around so he's facing Arthur now. His blue eyes stand out in the dark. "I still don't." 

"Are you scared now?" Merlin whispers his gaze never leaving Arthur's and Arthur looks back just as intense. 

He shuffles closer to Merlin so that instead of just feeling the body heat they feel each other. Skin touching skin.

"Honestly? Only a little. I have no idea what you're capable of. I saw you shatter a glass table into a million tiny pieces only because you were frustrated. Imagine what you could do when you're pissed off?" He says and Merlin chuckles softly. 

"You have no idea." He whispers before closing his eyes and he's sure Arthur gets the memo because even though Merlin can feel the curiosity leak from him like a faucet he stays quiet. 

"Goodnight Merlin." He whispers and Merlin just smiles and pulls the blanket closer to his body.


	8. "Gwen or Morgana?"

Hello. So this is long. Longer than most stuff I've written. There's like 5000 words here. 

I love Merthur with all my heart and especially Colin. 

He's just adorable. 

I totally got my friend into loving Colin because I showed her the shows he's in and the last one I showed her was the newest thing he was in in 2016.

Okay so back to the story! Hope you enjoy this chapter and please don't forget to vote and comment!! 

Oh and what do you guys think is in the box??   
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"Wow." Says a voice. "I am so not surprised. I knew this would happen eventually." The voice continues sounding smug as ever and Merlin tries to ignore it. 

Oh. Her.

"Holly. Go back to hole you crawled out of." He mumbles and he feels a body rumble beside him. Or under him? His mind hasn't woken up yet to function properly.

It's like he can feel her smirk, without even looking at her. "I swear Merlin, I'll just drag you back down under with me." She says before flopping down on the bed at there feet making Merlin groan and the bed bounce. 

He slowly sits up and glares at her. "What do you want." He asks and she just grins at him and bats her long mascara covered eyelashes. 

"Why Merlin." She gasps and puts a hand to her heart. "You're my friend you idiot." She says rolling her eyes. "And I need a place to crash tonight." She says quickly and Merlin goes to tell her to get a life but gets cut off. "I know, I know. I should just find a new place to live. But I can't. I don't have the money or the time right now. The neighbours are renovating and it's all just noise and messiness." She says throwing her hands up and falling back so she's now laying across both there feet. 

If Arthur was still king and in charge she'd have been throw out the window by now. And Merlin wouldn't have complained either. Hell he probably would have joined him.

"Holly, come on. It can't be that bad." He says and Arthur moves so his head is now under the pillow to try and block out the sound of Merlin and Holly. Not that Merlin blames him. Merlin wishes he were him.

"Merlin you have no idea. All they do is keep me up when I'm not at work. I need sleep. They even make me do things for them." She says and shudders over dramatically. "Have you ever done stuff that you don't want to do but you have no choice?" She says then rubs her eyes. 

Merlin looks down at Arthur who is now watching Merlin from under the pillow. "You have no idea." He mumbles and Arthur grins before going back under fully. 

"It's awful! I hate it! They don't know me or if I had plans for today- which I didn't, but that's besides the point. I'm not there servant girl. They can do there own ridiculous errands." She says and crosses her arms. 

"Mate I already have a guest and I need to clean out the spare room for him already." He says around a yawn. 

Holly crosses her arms and rolls her eyes. "Yes, because I can see that's going to happen anytime soon." 

Smartass.

Her narrows his eyes at her. "I just haven't gotten around to it. It's such a mess with boxes everywhere. Arthur only got here like two days ago. And yesterday we had to go shopping for food. And stuff for Arthur." He quietly adds but Holly chuckles and just shakes her head. 

"You're my best friend. So there for, your duty as my best friend is to let me crash here for a few days." She says smirking before heading towards the door. 

Wait what. 

"Wait you said for the night, not a few days." He says and she just cackles loudly as she leaves his room and into the hallway. Witch.

Merlin looks down at Arthur who has his eyes closed and has shit eating grin on his face. "She's your friend." Is all he says. Not once opening his eyes.

Merlin huffs. "Not for long." He mumbles making the blonde king chuckle and snuggle down more into the blankets. "You know who she reminds me of?"

Arthur slowly sits up and rubs his eyes looking as tired as Merlin feels.

"Random. But I'll bite. Who?"

"Gwen." He says.

Arthur furrows his eyebrows. "How on earth does that come to mind?" 

"Well she could kick your ass if she wanted to and everyone in Camelot knew that Gwen could as well and has." He says shrugging his shoulders. 

"She does not. She doesn't even look close to Guinevere." He says motioning towards the doorway Holly just left and Merlin chuckles. 

"Not look wise genius. Just the way she acts." He says sighing. "She acts just like Gwen did. Bossy, but in a good way. They can both get what they want with no questions asked. Well most of the time anyway. And I bet you if Holly lived when we really did, she'd have been made something of high power because of her attitude and looks." He says and Arthur shakes his head. 

"Or she would have been thrown in the dungeon." He says shrugging. "But then she'd somehow escape." He says and rubs his chin. "Okay fine sense we're comparing people all of a sudden, I think that Clary reminds me of someone." He says smirking. 

Merlin sighs because he already knows where this is going. "Let me guess. Morgana." He says and Arthur opens his mouth then closes it like a fish and frowns. 

"Yeah actually. When she was young and not all evil." He says and slowly frowns. "I wish she didn't do what she did." He says and picks at a lose string on one of the blankets that's covering them both. 

He puts his hand on Arthur's shoulder making him look up and meet Merlin's eyes. "It was her destiny Arthur. We can't stray from our destinies no matter how hard they are. Trust me- I've tried." He says.

"What do you mean you've tried." He says and Merlin just ignores him, getting out of bed and walking out the door to the hallway and down the stairs. "Merlin!"

Shaking his head and laughing, he makes his way to the kitchen where he knows he'll find Holly eating something of his. 

And man was he right. 

But also wrong. 

"Holly." He asks slowly walking into the kitchen. "What on bloody earth are you doing?" He asks and she turns around and smiles at him, her only dimple making a large indent on her left cheek. 

"Making breakfast duh. If you're going to let me stay here for a little I have to be a nice house guest." She says shrugging her shoulders and turns back around to the stove. Yup. Totally Gwen.

"Do you even know how to cook?"

"Out!" 

Merlin rushes out of the kitchen as she runs after him with a spatula covered in batter. Laughing he flops on the couch. 

He closes his eyes and when he feels someone staring at him he opens them again to come face to face with a very close blue eyed prat.

"Hello." He whispers and Arthur grins down at him. 

"Hi." He whispers back and leans in close as if to kiss Merlin. 

As if. 

Just as they get close to touching chapped lips on probably even more chapped lips, Holly ruins it by yelling. 

"Food!" That breaks the tension with a snap as both boys rush to the kitchen to eat and fill there grumbling stomaches.

"Oh and Clary is more like Gwen than Morgana I think. After the way she looked at you the other day makes me think of Gwen, not Morgana, she never looked at you like that before only Gwen has." Arthur says and Holly looks up from her plat to Arthur who is staring at Merlin and waiting for his reply. 

"How so? I thought we just agreed she was like Morgana and Holly was like Gwen?" He asks confused and both ignore Holly who is staring at them like there crazy.

Which they are in there own way.

"No no. If Clary was anything like Morgana she would have tried to get power as well." He says and Merlin shakes his head chuckling. 

"Arthur she's 5. She doesn't even know what power really is let alone wants any." He tells Arthur who just sighs and shakes his head.

"No Merlin. Her attitude is just like Gwen's. Holly seems more like Morgana to me now that I think about it." 

What is he smoking?

"What makes you think that? Does Holly look like she wants to kill me or you? No." Merlin says while gesturing to Holly who has stopped eating and is beyond confused at this point and has her fork on the table beside her.

"What are you guys talking about?" Holly finally says throwing her hands up finally getting the lads attention. They both look at her like she's the one who's talking nonsense.

"What are you going on about?" Merlin asks and Holly groans.

"You guys are comparing me to people I don't even know! I mean, I know Clary but that's all." She says sounding so confused that Merlin almost feels bad for her. 

Almost. 

She crashed into his house and is staying for a few days. 

She's going to be confused and there is nothing Merlin can do about it really.

Arthur just waves his hand her direction. "Nothing that concerns you really." He tells her and her jaw drops and her eyes go wide before they narrow into tiny slits.

"Excuse me?" She says slapping her hands down on the table to get both boys attention before they go back into another debate on who she's more like. "Not my concern?! You two idiots have been talking about me and comparing me to girls I don't even know and have never heard of! Of course it concerns me!" She snaps and crosses her arms after her rant and both boys shut there mouths and look at each other before both shrugging. 

They turn to look at her. "Okay fine. We're comparing you to Morgana and Guinevere." Merlin says before going to back his pancakes that are now cold because of his chatter with Arthur.

"Who and who?" Holly says. "I still don't know who they are...? Do I know them?" She asks looking back and forth between the two guys.

Arthur snickers and Merlin just full on laughs. 

"If only. You girls probably would have gotten along quite nicely." The Warlock says and Arthur nods his head agreeing. "Well before Morgana turned Evil and tried to kill everyone." He says going back his pancakes leaving Holly even more confused and with more questions than answers.

"I will never get you Merlin. I'm going to the washroom." She says getting up and heading towards the washroom, leaving both boys alone in the kitchen. 

"You think we confused her?" Merlin asks frowning. 

Arthur tilts his head to the right a little. "Nah. I think she understood everything very well actually." He says and they go back to eating what's left of the food before going into the living room and plopping down on the couch beside each other. 

"So," Arthur starts. "What are we going to do with all those boxes?" 

"Not a clue your highness." He mumbles leaning his head back against the back of the couch. 

Boxes. 

The box. 

He bolts up right with wide eyes. Arthur looks at him concerned as Merlin turns his wide eyes on his king. 

"The box." He says and Arthur's expression matches his as they both bolt upright and make there way to the basement stairs in record time. As if anyone was really keeping track. 

Merlin reaches the bottom and trips, losing his balance as he hits a bookshelf making it tip over, falling with lots of stuff on it. Both boys watch with wide eyes and Merlin reacts quickly throwing his hand out the use magic to stop it from hitting the ground with everything on it. The magic flows through him like a fountain and everything that was falling stops in midair. His eyes changing colour once again to reflect who and what he truly is. 

Magic. Magic reflex.

"Merlin?! Arthur?! Where did you two run off to?" Merlin hears Holly yell from some place upstairs and he quickly puts the shelf back in place just as Holly comes down the stairs. "Jeez you guys move fast. I just left you for a moment." She says leaning against the wall. Merlin just notices what she's got on. 

She has on a long sleeved white shirt with dark blue stripes going through it from the chest area and down and ripped black skinny jeans with her hair up two little tight buns on the side of her head. 

"Nice outfit." He says and she grins bowing. 

"Nice bowing." Arthur says making Merlin chuckle and roll his eyes. 

He meets Arthur's gaze and shakes his head. "I'm not bowing to you." 

"You take all the fun out of everything." He says and Merlin just rolls his eyes and then remembers the whole reason he came down to the basement. 

He walks towards the room which the door is shut now. Courtesy of Merlin. 

He doesn't need anyone going in or more importantly- coming out. 

He slowly opens the door and peeks his head inside. Nothing looks different and he lets out a big sigh of relief. 

He opens it the rest of the way and he hears a low whistle from behind him. He looks over his shoulder at Holly who looks a little shocked. 

"That's a lot of boxes." She mumbles. "What's in them anyway?" She looks at Merlin and he honestly doesn't know how to answer that.

"That is a excellent question." He says and Holly just chuckles at him. 

"You mean to tell me, you have all these boxes and have no clue what's in them?" She asks leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed again. 

"Yes. That's exactly what I mean." He says.

Holly grins. "Well now is the perfect time to do just that!" She says and claps her hands together before walking past Merlin into the room. "And if you don't understand what I mean, I mean it's the best time to go through all these while we clean it out!" 

Arthur and Merlin shoot each other a panicked look before rushing in after Holly.

"Holly," Merlin starts as Arthur throws him a look that says "fix this before it actually needs fixing!" Yeah that look. "Why don't you go get some of your stuff that you want here and me and Arthur will start on this room?" He asks and she throws him a look over her shoulder. 

"Mate if you think I'm going to leave you two to do this without me then you're on crack." She says before picking up a random box and Merlin goes pale. "Plus I can just get my stuff later today! We have all day to do this so I have a place to crash do the night. Even if we get most of it out today that'd be good." She tells them walking past them with a huge box in her hands and Merlin gets worried thinking of what else he might have put in these boxes. 

Him and Arthur grab random boxes, being careful not to move them around to much and go over to the couch where Holly is standing looking confused. 

Merlin is confused as well till he realizes what she's looking at. 

The shattered coffee table. 

"What are you- oh. That." Arthur begins then stops short. 

Holly looks at them with accusing eyes that have a million questions swimming in them. "Oh that?" She asks looking back down at the tiny pieces that should have been practically impossible to get so small. Especially since it's the whole coffee table that looks like this and not just bits of it. "What did you even do?" 

"Um." Merlin says and opens and closes his mouth trying to think of something to tell her but ends up just looking like he's having a seizure. 

"I have no good answer." He finally says shaking his head and she just sighs loudly. 

She goes over to the closet and grabs out the vacuum. She comes over with it and plugs it in and starts cleaning up the tiny shards of glass. 

Merlin could have this cleaned up as quick as he blinks but not with Holly around. That's just to much for one day.

For him not Holly. 

After a few minutes fighting with himself over using his magic or not, Holly has it all cleaned up. 

"Well would you look at that." Arthur says hitting Merlin on the shoulder. "Cleaned up just like magic." He says grinning like a child and Merlin gives him a bored look. Arthur just shakes his head. "Disappointment is what I'm shooting at you right now Merlin. Pure and utter disappointment."

"Alright." Holly claps her hands together pulling Merlin out of his thoughts and back to reality. "Lets go through these boxes."

"Man I wish I had an extra coffee table." Merlin says frowning at the now empty space. 

"Hey, maybe in all those boxes in there you've managed to shove a table in one." Holly snickers shoving Merlin a little. 

Little does she know if Merlin really wanted to he probably could have put one in a box.

Merlin sighs before sitting down and looking down at the unopened box in his hands. 

It doesn't say what it is. 

Which worries Merlin to no end. 

Some are labeled. Some are not. 

Holly has a labeled one that says clothes and Arthur has one that says Random. 

Random? Really?

Merlin lets out a long breath before opening his box and frowns but then grins once he sees what's inside. 

"Why are you grinning?" Arthur asks and Merlin looks up grinning. 

He pulls out a hard covered book that has symbols on the front and a lock. Arthur gives Merlin a quizzed look then looks back at the book. 

"What's that?" Merlin looks up to see Holly trying to see the book and he quickly puts it beside him- and out of Holly's reach. 

"Just an old book." Well he's not lying. The book is beyond old. Merlin is old. 

This book is older than Merlin.

"That looks like a very old book." Arthur says eyeing it. 

Merlin nods his head. "It's older than me Arthur." He says and Arthur's eyes widen as he looks at Merlin then back at the book beside him. 

"That is old." He says. "That is very, very old." He shakes his head his eyes never leaving the book. "How is it in such great condition?" He asks and slowly picks it up and looks confused as he studies the cover then realization takes over his features. "Ah. Never mind." He says and throws Merlin a sly smile before going into his own box.

It's a spell book. And Arthur knows that. 

Holly on the other hand doesn't even know what that is.

"You guys lost me. It's not that old. Merlin is my age and I am not that old." She says narrowing her eyes at Arthur who just shakes his head. 

"It's nothing. You wouldn't understand even if we explained it to you a hundred times over again." Arthur says and Merlin slowly turns his head to face Arthur who hasn't caught on to his slip up. 

Then he does. 

His eyes go wide and he looks up Holly who is frowning. "Well now you have to tell me." She says crossing her arms with hard eyes. 

"Holly, it's nothing. Ignore the prat." He says and she turns her hard stare in Merlin, only it doesn't effect him like it should. He's seen worst stares in his life. 

And lots of them are from Arthur. 

"Prat?" 

Merlin looks over to see Arthur staring at him. "Yes. Did I stutter?"

"Do you want a stutter?" 

"You two are like a married couple." Holly mumbles pulling out random clothes that don't even fit this age of day and some of them are Arthur's. Holly just looks at them confused as she pulls them out.

He looks over at Merlin after looking at the stuff Holly had pulled out. "You kept some of my clothes?" Merlin looks down and nods. "Why?" Arthur barely whispers. 

Merlin doesn't look up. "I knew you'd come back. So I had to keep some of your stuff for when you did return. But clearly those are of no use to you now." He says and Arthur raises an eyebrow. 

Merlin knows he doesn't buy it. 

"What's the real reason Merlin, that's a good one but I want the real one." 

Merlin looks up to meet the piercing blue eyes of his king and suddenly he's back in Arthur's chambers being asked why he wasn't working on his duties and why he was at the tavern that day- even though Merlin knows that's not the truth, Arthur seemed to think it was. Everything's gone including Holly and the worry about a certain box.

He looks back down and is suddenly nervous- like he used to be when he was still Arthur's manservant and trying to hide his magic. 

"Um well." He stampers and Arthur gives him a confused look but doesn't say anything and waits for Merlin to spit it out already. "I just couldn't leave you." He finally blurts out. 

Arthur's face grows confused but then his face softens at the realization of what Merlin's words mean. "Leave me?"

Merlin sighs and feels his eyes get teary. "Yes leave you." He looks up at Arthur. "You- you were my whole life. Protecting you was what I was born to do. And with you gone there was nothing left." He finally gets out those few words even though they're just the tip of the huge iceberg of words Merlin wants to say to Arthur. 

But he can't find it in himself to say the rest.

Arthur puts his hand on Merlin's arm. "Merlin, I'm the one who left you-" 

Merlin cuts him off. "But you didn't have a choice. I had a choice. I could have stayed with you and made sure you were alright. I failed to do what I was literally born to do Arthur." He says and his eyes tear up again but this time there a mixture of sad and angry tears. Very angry tears. 

Not towards Arthur but towards himself. 

He wipes angrily at the tears that escaped and that are now on his cheeks. "Neither did you Merlin. From what you told me you didn't have a choice either or more people would have been hurt." 

"Okay hold on. You guys talk about some of the weirdest shit ever and I have no clue what it's about. So please if you wouldn't mind enlightening me on what this topic is about this time, that'd be great thanks." Holly says cutting through there thoughts like a knife.

Arthur glances at her. "My last day." 

"Last day of what? Spy club?" 

Merlin sees Arthur's eyes go hard and his guard go up. And Merlin watches as Arthur goes from a clueless blonde guys the 21st century to the king all in a split second and he feels his heart beat fast in his chest. 

"Spy club?" He says with his voice hard and Holly seems to notice the shift of tension in the air and shifts in her seat. "Do you think this is some kind of joke?" 

"Arthur," Merlin starts but Arthur's gaze makes him stop. 

"No Merlin." He then looks back at Holly. "Merlin is crying over this and you're making a joke out of it? Merlin has a right to cry over this and I do as well. The day we're talking about was hard on not just me or Merlin but everyone we've ever known. You don't have the right to make it a joke or joke about it in any way." He says, his voice full of authority of a king that Merlin's blood goes cold for a second and he feels like he's going to faint or be sick to his stomach.

He doesn't really know which one at this moment. 

Arthur going back to being a king brought Merlin's mind back to when he was in Camelot and scared of being caught with his magic. 

Arthur's gaze turns to Merlin and it softens once he takes in Merlin's appearance. Merlin can feel the blood drain from his face and looks down at his hands and doesn't meet the eyes of the king. 

"I'm sorry." Merlin whispers clasping his hands together to keep them from trembling. 

He's scared all over again. 

Even though he could kick Arthur's ass easy as pie he's scared of the king part of him. The part of him that has grown up to hate magic in all shapes and forms. 

"Sorry? For what Merlin?" Arthur asks and Merlin looks up and then looks at Holly who is just as pale as him. But probably from a different reason. 

"Um, I'm just gonna uh go get some of my stuff." Holly says and quickly runs up the stairs as fast as her legs can carry her and he hears the door close shortly after. 

"For being me. For not being a very good manservant." He says quietly and Arthur frowns. 

"Merlin what on earth are you talking about? Sorry for being you? I don't understand." He says and Merlin swallows a lump that's formed in his throat. 

"For being born of magic. The very thing you were raised to hate with a passion." He says looking up to meet Arthur's gaze before he looks away quickly. "I'm a terrible servant and an even more awful friend."

"Oh Merlin. You big baby. Why are you thinking of this now? Of all times?" He asks and he puts a hand on Merlin's shoulder gently. Merlin tense as the hand makes contact with his shoulder. 

Arthur frowns even more when he notices Merlin's doing. "Was it something I said?" He says and Merlin slowly shakes his head but then stops and starts to slowly nod his head instead. 

"It wasn't just what you said- it was how you said it." He says before taking a big breath and looking up to meet Arthur's blue eyes with his own. 

"I still don't understand? What did I say to make you upset? Whatever it is I'm sorry I said it." He says sounding upset himself.

"It was how you said it. Made me go back in time to when I was fearing for my life everyday. And how awful I was at being your servant." He tells Arthur. 

"But you were good at one thing though." 

Merlin frowns and turns confused. "And what would that be?"

Arthur smiles. "You were good at saving me all those times."

Merlin slowly breaks into a small grin. "I wasn't just good, I was amazing. I saved your royal arse more times than I can count. At least once a day I saved you from something." He says chuckling as some of the tension leaves his body as his mind gets pulled back to the present and how magic is not even real here to people. 

"Not everyday." Arthur says. "That's not possible. I wasn't even with you everyday." He says poking Merlin in his chest. 

"Yeah and those days were even harder- there were very few of those days but saving you was harder those days because I couldn't just show up out of nowhere." Merlin chuckles thinking of how those conversations would have been like back then. 

Arthur giving him a strange look and making him go back as the knights all silently judged him as he judged them all back just as hard because he was doing there job.

There both silent for a few moments then Arthur looks up from his lap and gives Merlin a questioning look.

"Merlin?"

"Yes sire?" 

"Where's the box?" 

Both boys eyes widen at the sudden realization that they haven't seen the box at all this morning. They both bolt up right and run to the room full of boxes. 

"Where did you have it last?" Arthur asks as they check every box they can reach from ground level. 

"It wasn't in here I'll tell you that." Her says and he feels his panic rise along with his magic. He bites his lip and runs both hands through his hair as he starts to really panic, his magic starting to bubble just under the surface of his skin. 

His eyes go gold and boxes start floating and swirling around the room as his panic increases. The more he panics the faster the boxes move.

"Merlin.... Merlin!" Arthur grabs Merlin's shoulders and his blue eyes meet the bright golden ones of the panicking Warlock. "Calm down. Deep breaths. I'm sure it's around here somewhere." 

Merlin slowly nods his head and the boxes slowly go back to the ground as his eyes to back to sky blue. "I just have no clue where it is and you and I both know what could happen if it got out." 

Arthur nods. "Yeah. We'll have to move. Like asap." He says and Merlin feels his panic rise all over again.

"Lets split up." Merlin finally says and they both go separate ways. Merlin up stairs and Arthur down stairs. 

Merlin makes his way up the stairs in seconds as he uses his magic to search places he didn't even know he had. 

"Oh god." He mumbles over and over again. He searches his living room, his kitchen his bathroom and he even did up the stairs rooms and he still hasn't found it. He runs his hands through his hair and starts pulling on it. 

"Merlin!" He hears Arthur yell from down stairs and Merlin bolts it down the stairs and back down to the basement to see if Arthur has found anything.

He looks around and finally sees the shadow of the king coming from the extra storage room. Well it's got his heating and cooling system and all that snazzy stuff. 

He goes over and silently hits himself as he sees it's also full of random boxes. What was he thinking? Why would he need this much stuff?

"Merlin!" He hears Arthur whisper yell. He goes over and is met with a pale faced Arthur. 

"What is it? Did you find it?" He asks and he frowns at Arthur's expression. 

"Well not exactly." He mumbles and holds out something to Merlin.

Merlin's blood goes cold and drains from every part of his body. 

He can't take his eyes away from what Arthur just gave him. 

Broken egg shell. 

He looks up to meet Arthur's panicked eyes. 

"Uh oh."


	9. "That's not a gecko."

"Oh god." Merlin says and everything in the room starts vibrating fast and Arthur looks around, his panic mixed with Merlin's is probably not good at all right now. "This is not good. Not good at all." Her says and random stuff starts bursting and shattering everywhere because Merlin is beyond scared and panicked. 

"Hey we'll find it. We have to." Arthur says and him and Merlin share a look before Merlin bolts away and goes to search again for the creature. 

They have to find it before someone else does. Someone like Holly. 

He doesn't even want to think of what would happen if Clary found it first.

The door opens and Merlin closes his eyes and curses. 

"So I got some stuff. Like just my clothes for tonight and tomorrow. I'll need to go and get just a few other things after." She says walking to the living room and more stuff has shattered because of the panic coming from Merlin. Like picture frames and vases and really anything glass.

'Oh god please let my eyes be blue and not gold.' He silently prays as he turns to look back at Holly. 

"Didn't think you'd be back so soon..." He says biting his lip and glancing around.

She looks to where Merlin is looking but sees nothing. "Yeah..... Anyway I had time to think of what your uh friend said.... he was right. It wasn't right of me to joke about something so serious. Even thought I don't know what it is myself." She says then adds as Merlin keeps looking around. "Merlin what are you doing? Are you looking for something?" She asks coming over to Merlin. She looks around the room and frowns. "Why is stuff broken?" She looks at Merlin as if he'll tell her. 

"We are looking for a... a lizard. Someone called and said there lizard got lose and asked us to look for it, see if it came over here." He says and she nods her head, believing Merlin. 

"Oh cool what kind of lizard?" She asks as she goes over to the supply closet and grabs out the broom and dustpan to clean up the broken pieces of glass and stuff. 

Well shit didn't think of that part. "Um a gecko." He says.

A gecko. Really?

"Merlin I can't find it." Arthur says coming up the stairs and you can tell he's just as stressed at Merlin because he looks like crap and his hair is all over the place. "Holly. You're back so soon." 

"Yeah. So you're looking for a gecko. I'll help." She says shrugging her shoulders and puts the broom against the wall with the dustpan still attached to it. "I'll look up stairs." She tells them before heading up the stairs and Merlin lets out a breath of air he didn't realize he was holding in.

"Okay she's gone looking for a gecko so that leaves up to look for what's really important." Merlin says and uses his magic and lifts everything up in the air and Arthur stares with wide eyes.  

Just ignoring how Arthur doesn't even know what a damn gecko is.

"Holy crap Merlin." Arthur says as Merlin looks under everything and even looks in the air in case he lifted the creature into the air. 

Nothing. 

He growls as he puts everything down with a bang that makes Arthur jump. "God damn it!" He shouts.

Foot steps come from upstairs and just after, Holly is at the bottom of the stairs looking concerned and confused. "You okay? What was that bang?" She asks and looks around before coming over to Merlin who has his eyes closed and Arthur knows his eyes are golden.

"He just tripped." Arthur lies and Holly looks over at Arthur and slowly nods her head. 

"Okay. You okay Merlin?" She asks and puts her hand on his face to make him look at her and he sighs before opening his eyes. 

"Yeah. I'm okay. Like he said- I just tripped." He goes along with Arthur's stupid lie and she gives him one last look before going back up the stairs.

"It's not in this room." Merlin says as he walks past Arthur and into the kitchen were he does the same thing- menus the banging back to the ground part. "Or this one." He grumbles.

They go back down stairs and Merlin goes to do it again when a weird sound comes from behind the chair in the far corner of the room. 

They both look at each other and he goes over quickly to it. 

It's just a toy. One of Clary's to be exact, one of those for real friends or something like that. They both groan and flop down on the couch. 

Merlin then begins to cry. 

"Oh Merlin." Arthur says and wraps an arm around Merlin's shoulders and brings him into his chest. Merlin just sobs into his shirt. "Hey it'll be okay. I'm sure it's around here somewhere."

Then they hear a scream from upstairs making both boys jump apart like they were electrocuted. 

The glance at each other before flying up the stairs and from the main floor all the way upstairs to where they heard Holly scream. 

They see her in the hallway shaking with Merlin's bedroom door closed. She has the toilet brush in her hand and has it pointed at his bedroom door as if something is going to come out and eat her. 

"Holly." He asks and puts a hand on her should has she's taking in huge gasps of air and trying to calm down. "What's wrong? What happened?" He asks and she looks at him before her eyes dart to Arthur then back to the door. 

"In there- I don't- that's not a- you said it was a gecko." She says between breaths and Merlin and Arthur shoot each other a look before Merlin slowly opens his bedroom door and peaks his head in. "No way in hell am I staying up here with whatever that is. If you need me I'll be down stairs." She says handing Merlin the brush before shaking her head and running back down stairs. 

"Well? Do you see what she screamed about?" Arthur asks and Merlin ignores him and steps inside, Arthur following behind. He closes the door so it doesn't get out and scare Holly even more. Even though that would be funny.

They hear something move on the right side of the bed and Merlin slowly creeps over to that side and stops in his tracks once he catches sight of it. 

Merlin places the toilet brush on the ground as he crouches down onto his knees, not breaking eye contact at all with it.

He slowly holds his hand out and it slowly comes closer to him while still being cautious of him. He gets close enough and sniffs Merlin's hand before backing away a step and sitting down like a dog would. 

Merlin whispers some words to the creature in its own language and it's full attention is on Merlin. 

It makes its way over to him. The small creature sniffs his hand again and much like a dog would, pushes his hand up so it's on its head and wants to be pet. 

Merlin smiles down at the creature and pets it like he would a cat or dog. 

So much for it being a gecko. 

"What on earth are you doing?" To be honest, he forgot Arthur was with him. Merlin picks up the animal and grins at Arthur. "Is that what I really think it is?" He asks looking at the animal in Merlin's arms. 

"Possible." Merlin mumbles but they both know that it is. 

Arthur sighs loudly. "Merlin you idiot. Why did you think keeping a dragon egg was a good idea?" He asks crossing his arms and the dragon climbs up onto Merlin's shoulders watching Arthur.

"I guess I just wanted to save them." He says as he pets the small dragon on the head. 

The dragon is a dark colour, dark purple or blue. In between those colours. The creature watches Arthur with unblinking eyes and Merlin can tell Arthur doesn't really appreciate these eyes on him at the moment. 

"I can see why Holly screamed. He looks nothing like a normal lizard." Arthur says holding his hand out for the dragon to smell. 

"Her." 

"I'm sorry what?"

Merlin chuckles as Arthur is granted by the dragon to be touched. He pets the dragon and smiles.

"You said he. This dragon is a girl." Merlin simply says shrugging his shoulders as the dragon seems to like Arthur and starts licking his hand. 

"Oh. Well what's her name?" Arthur asks and Merlin frowns looking at the winged creature on his shoulders. 

The Warlock and the dragon make eye contact and Merlin knows what her name is at that very moment. 

"Lilith." He says and the dragon makes a small roaring sound. "That's her name." Merlin says just as a knock on the door comes dragging all three of there attention to the door and the human behind it. 

The door opens and Holly sticks her head in and as soon as her eyes land on Lilith she screams again and closes the door making both lads laugh. 

"Don't laugh at me!" She says from the other side of the door. It opens again slowly and she steps inside fully this time. "What in gods creation is that thing?" She asks leaning against the closed door. 

"This here is Lilith." Is all Merlin says because he's not sure how to explain to his friend that it's actually a fire breathing dragon. 

"Yeah okay. What is it though?" She asks crossing her arms, eyes never leaving the dragon. 

Merlin looks up at Arthur who is already looking at him and slowly sighs. 

Time to tell her I guess. Maybe she'll think we're so crazy that she won't stay here now. 

"I'm Merlin and this here is Arthur." He says and she raises her eyebrows with a bored look on her face. 

"No shit Sherlock." She throws them a snarky grin before frowning again and her eyes go back to Merlin's shoulders. 

"I think we should go talk down stairs about this." Arthur says and Merlin can't help but agree. 

They make there way down stairs, the dragon laying on Merlin's shoulders like a cat. They avoid all the broken glass and sit on the couch, Holly sitting in the chair she dragged over from the kitchen table. 

"Okay lets start this all over." Merlin says and holds out his hand towards Holly. "I'm Merlin." He says and she groans. "You wanted to know what's going on, so I'm starting from the beginning. The very beginning." He says and she eyes his hand. 

"If you have one of those damn shock things in your hand I'm going to kill you." She says before shaking his hand. 

"And well, you can introduce yourself." Merlin says to Arthur who rolls his eyes. 

"Why does he need to introduce himself to me? Why did you? I know you both already." She says as the look of utter confusion takes over her expression. 

"Holly. What did I just tell you?" Merlin says and she crosses her arms and sinks down in the chair. 

"That you're starting from the beginning." She mumbles. 

"Anyway," Merlin then gives Arthur a look making him clear his throat. 

"I'm Arthur. Pendragon." He adds on and Holly sits up and furrows her eyebrows. 

"Wait like the royal Pendragon's?" She asks and Arthur nods his head. "That makes sense with the whole first name thing actually." She continues. "Who was a Pendragon in your family? Mum or dad?" She asks.

"Uh actually my dad." He says and Merlin frowns but nods his head because well Uther was a Pendragon and Arthur's mom married into the name. 

"Oh cool. So what does this have to do with anything?" She asks trying to find a point in all this. 

"Holly you don't understand. He's Arthur Pendragon." Merlin says and Holly still hasn't gotten it yet. "The Arthur Pendragon." 

She looks between the two lads and starts laughing. Like full on laughing that had Arthur confused and Merlin just annoyed. 

"Holly stop laughing. I'm serious." He says and she takes in big breaths of air.

"Okay fine I'm all good now." She wipes her face. "It's funny because the real Arthur Pendragon is dead. And this Arthur here is more than alive." She says shrugging her shoulders at the guys. 

"I'm Merlin. The sorcerer or Warlock or whatever it is people call them these days." He says and she raises a nice plucked eyebrow. 

"Merlin you are the clumsiest person I have ever had the pleasure of meeting." She says and that's what sets Arthur off laughing.

"I tell him that all the time. That and he's the worst servant ever." He says and Holly just shakes her head. 

"You had me and then you lost me just as fast." She tells him and she looks back at Merlin. "No way in hell."

"I don't know what to tell you." The king says and that just makes Merlin even more annoyed. 

"Holly. I am immortal. I have lived thousands and thousands of years. I've watched Arthur die and I've watched everyone I love and know pass. I have grown to adapt to different places. I have to. While everyone around me is changing and aging I'm not." He tells her trying to get through to her head. "I am the Merlin and he is the King Arthur." 

Holly looks at them like there both on crack. 

"Oh and this? This is a dragon." Merlin adds and Holly's eyes widen but then she looks skeptical again. 

"No way. Dragons are suppose to be bigger." She says smiling like she caught the lie. 

"You moron. It's a baby." The Warlock says and Arthur chuckles. 

"Fine. Magic isn't real. Merlin back then had magic. You do not have magic. I would have known." She says and then sticks her tongue out at him. 

"You only would have known if I wanted you to know. Do you know how many years I've kept it from Arthur?" He asks jabbing a thumb at Arthur who frowns at him. "Years. I probably would have kept it if it wasn't for him dying and all." He says and as soon as those words leave his mouth Arthur smacks him upside the head. 

"Well that's rude." 

Merlin rubs his head. "Not as rude as you hitting me on the head." 

"Oh I'm sorry. Who's the king here?" 

Glares is what response he gets from Merlin. 

"I don't believe you guys. At all." She says standing up and both boys do the same. 

"Holly please believe us." Arthur says. 

"Wow there are manners in there after all." 

Another hit upside the head. 

"I can't. It's impossible." She says shrugging her shoulders as if that ends the whole conversation and topic.

She goes towards the door to leave and opens it without looking back at the two lads who are indeed telling her the hard truth. 

Merlin groans and his eyes go gold at the door she opened to leave slams shut. 

The silence that follows is almost deafening as no one moves or says a word. 

"Believe us now Holly?" Merlin whispers and he feels Arthur stiff as a rock before him and Lilith feeling like a statue.

A few heart beats pass after Merlin asks that and she slowly turns around to face them. Her face pale, as if she's seen a ghost.

"What was that?" She asks and Merlin can't help but kind of feel sorry for her. 

Like, he knows she's not dumb- like at all, she's actually the smartest person he's met in this life time. 

"I have magic Holly. I'm Merlin and this is Arthur. That's what we've been trying to get through that thick head of yours." He says throwing his hands up in the air. 

"Magic? It's real?" 

A sad sigh comes from Merlin. "Yeah." 

He feels Arthur's gaze burning into his neck like he's holding a candle flame up to the skin.

"And- you have uh have it?" She asks coming back over slowly to them. 

"Yes. Holly come sit in the couch and we will explain everything to you. I'll answer any questions you have for me and Arthur will do his best to answer any for him as well." Merlin motions for Holly to follow him back into the living room as that little mishap made its way into the kitchen. Arthur and Merlin sit on the couch and Holly slowly sits on the arm chair in the far corner from them. 

Merlin understands. 

"So you are really Merlin? The Merlin?" She asks and he nods and her gaze flicks to Arthur. "And you're really King Arthur?" Another nod from Arthur this time and she pulls her legs up to her chest and leans her chin on her knees. "Wow. Okay. That's a lot to take in." She says and tries to give them a smile but it comes out more like a grimace. 

"Yeah." Merlin says giving her a small smile, well tries to anyway. 

"So I've been hitting on an old dude this whole time?" She says and Merlin can see that she's slowly coming back around. 

He then realizes what she said. "Hey. For your information I'm not really that old. And I'm pretty damn good looking to be my age." He says crossing his arms and Arthur laughs. 

He continues to laugh. "Not that old? Merlin you're so old that none of what's here today is from back then. Only the random stuff you have in the boxes in the basement." He laughs and Merlin rolls his eyes but smiles as Holly joins him. 

"I'm glad you find my oldness amusing." He mutters and the dragon slides down onto his lap like a puppy. "At least you're not laughing at me." He says petting her and she closes her eyes as he does so. 

"That's because she's only a baby. Give her time." 

And that's when Merlin smacked Arthur. 

"Okay so wait. Pause for a second." She says holding up both hands. "So that thing..... It's really a dragon?" She asks and swallows loudly as she looks at it. "I mean aren't they suppose to be big and scary and mean?" She asks and Arthur opens and then closes his mouth turning his attention to Merlin.

"They are trust me. But she's still young so there is hope that she'll be okay." Merlin says as the dragon makes little noises. 

"All the dragons I've met have been rude no matter what." Arthur says eyeing the small magical being. 

Merlin chuckles. "Yeah. Kilgharrah was an ass no matter what went on around him." He says as he scratches Lilith under the chin and she closes her eyes.

"Wait," Holly asks crossing her legs. "So you guys aren't reincarnated? You're really from back in the day?" She asks and both guys chuckle. 

"Trust me Holly. It's really us." Arthur says and Merlin nods while chuckling still. 

"Does reincarnation even exist?" She asks. "Like is it true?" The girl then scrunches up her face and Merlin can tell that's when she's thinking hard about something specific.

Merlin smirks. "Don't think to hard Holly, don't want you hurting yourself." 

She gives him a sweet smile then flips him off making Arthur laugh and Merlin grin. 

"I've heard of stories about reincarnation. But never really met anyone." Merlin says. "And you'd think I'd have met someone by now after all these years." He shrugs.

"What about like, you did meet someone but they didn't know how to tell you it was them?" Holly asks and Merlin shakes his head. 

"They wouldn't come up to me. I look to much like I did way back when. So they'd think it's something playing a trick or something is wrong with them." Merlin explains and Holly frowns. 

"You never know." She says crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes at the Warlock. 

"She kind of has a point." Arthur starts and when Merlin gives him a weird look he continues. "Like you never really know who is who. I mean look at me." 

Merlin sighs. "Yeah you still look like a blonde prat." He smirks. 

"Rude." He says. "But that's not what I meant. I mean is I look the same. And I'm kind of reincarnated in a way." He shrugs. 

"Where are you getting with this?" Merlin asks confused. 

Holly groans. "He's saying that it's true. Reincarnation is possible." She says throwing her hands up. 

A frown crosses Merlin's features. "No, Arthur was raised from the dead. I know he died. I watched him die." 

Just speaking the words aloud makes his stomach go into tight knots. 

"So? That's still kind of the same thing." Holly says and Merlin can tell he's not going to get to her anytime soon. He sees Arthur very interested in this topic of choice as well.

"How? He was raised from the dead. Not born again." Merlin tries once again to get through to her. 

"Because he was dead and is with us now. Merlin don't you see?" She asks and Merlin groans throwing his head back against the couch. 

"Does that mean there might be others out there that are from our time as well?" Arthur asks and Merlin feels a weird feeling in his stomach just at the thought of seeing anyone again.

Merlin glances at him. "You really think there might be others out there?" He says quietly. Arthur gives him a small smile.

"I like to hope so." He says back just as quietly.


	10. "Movies?"

"Wanna go to the movies? It's only 7:00." Holly asks from her claimed seat, the lonely but comfy chair. Both Merlin and Arthur look at her the exact same time. "That's creepy. Please don't do that again." She asks. She's upside down on the chair with her blonde hair now in two long pig tails on the sides of her head. 

"I don't even know what's playing these days." Merlin says as he flicks through the channels not paying any real attention to what's on and passing through. 

"Movies?" That's when Arthur clues in he has no idea what there talking about or what a movie even is.

"Yeah. A movie." Holly says like it's the most obvious thing ever. 

"What's a movie?" He asks and Holly's eyes widen. 

"Are you serious?" She looks at Merlin. "Is he serious?" She then looks back at Arthur. "What the hell mate."

"Holly," He starts. "Have you've forgotten that he's not from here?" He asks and she throws a grin at Arthur as she responds to Merlin. 

"No. But you know what a movie is and you're not from here." She says like she's stating the obvious. Which she kind of is but not at the same time.

"He's been dead. I haven't." Well not technically. Merlin has been dead on the inside, but Holly doesn't need to know that.

Her eyes go wide again and her grin gets bigger as she shows white teeth. "Oh yeah." She says slowly. "So you're like, a baby." 

Merlin smacks his hand over his mouth and his gaze goes straight to Arthur who's eyes are wide. 

"A what."

"A baby. You know, like a small human? I'm sure you guys had them back then right?" She asks turning back so she's sitting properly in the chair but her legs are still crossed. 

Merlin can tell she's being a smartass. He knows the look in her eyes. He should know, he's the one who started it all to begin with. He's the one who invented that look.

Arthur on the other hand is a little rusty with the sarcasm and smartassness. 

Merlin sputters out a laugh at Arthur's red face.  "Yes we had babies. What did you think happened?" Arthur's face is beat red.

She starts laughing and Merlin joins her. Arthur glares at them both and turns his attention back to the tv.

"You guys are awful." He says not taking his eyes away from the tv screen. 

Merlin chuckles and puts his hand on Arthur's arm. "Yeah but that's what you loved about me." He starts laughing again and turns back to Holly, missing the way Arthur's gaze lingered on Merlin for a tad longer than usual.

Holly didn't miss it though. 

"Well what about the fair that's going on? That's gotta be fun." Holly says standing up grinning so wide Merlin thought for a moment her face would split in two. Maybe then she would be quiet and stop barging in all the time.

Merlin looks over at Arthur who's got the most confused look on his face. "What's a fair?" He asks slowly. 

Merlin the smirks over at Holly. "Oh we have to take him."  

Holly then claps her hands and starts dancing on the spot and Merlin smiles over at Arthur who looks a little scared. Which makes Merlin enjoy this even more. 

"You look scared." Merlin says nudging Arthur who's eyes are wide. 

"Um no." He says but his expression gives it all way.

Merlin smirks. "Lets just call this pay back." He says standing up.  He grabs a blue hoodie that's on the back of the couch and throws it on over his head and messy hair.

Arthur furrows his eyebrows. "For what?" 

He shrugs. "Everything." He says before going into the kitchen where Holly disappeared to moments before. 

Arthur gets up off the couch, moving the blanket that was half way on the back of the couch and spilling onto to couch cushion and the dragon that was sleeping beside him on it opens one eye but doesn't move. 

"Where are we going exactly?" Arthur asks as he comes into the kitchen where Holly and Merlin are getting there coats and stuff on. 

"To the fair. Duh." Holly says rolling her eyes and Arthur starts to get his boots on and coat. 

Lilith sort of flys into the room, making a little roaring sound and Holly and Arthur jump while Merlin doesn't even look up as she slides across the kitchen table in her messy landing. 

"Um quick question." Holly says watching the dragon. "Do you think it's a good idea to leave her alone here?" She looks over at Merlin who has a conflicted look on his face. 

"Uh oh. That look is never good. I remember it." Arthur says as Merlin sighs. "You always come up with ridiculous ideas that never end well."

"I'll just have to bring her with me." He says ignoring Arthur and Holly stops putting her black ear muffs on half way. 

"I'm sorry what did you say?" She asks and Merlin chuckles as Lilith tries again to fly at him but is still very clumsy and crash lands into Merlin's arms making Arthur chuckle and Merlin smile. 

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Holly asks. 

He gives her a look. "No but I feel like it's better than leaving her here alone. Who knows what she would get into while we were gone. I'd still like a house to come home to." 

"Oh. Yeah true. I agree with you." She says zipping up her coat and putting her fluffy black earmuffs on completely. 

Merlin does the same with the dragon in his coat. Her head peaking out by his right shoulder. He puts on a red scarf and her head goes under it and out the top again. 

Merlin puts a hat on and Arthur chuckles as his gaze goes to the reptile of sort. "What if people see her?" Arthur asks as Merlin pulls his hat down more so it covers his big ears. 

"Eh I'll just say she's a lizard. No one will no the difference if they don't see her body." He says and he nods his head. 

"No one would believe you anyway." Holly says chuckling as she puts her purse across her shoulder. "I wouldn't have believed you if I hadn't been here."

He points to her. "That my friend is very true." 

They shut the lights off after Merlin makes sure he has his wallet, phone and keys and locks the door. "I drove." Holly says and Merlin grins his thanks. 

"You drove?" 

A sigh from Merlin.

"Oh Arthur." 

Holly climbs in the drivers seat and Merlin in the passenger and they both look out to see Arthur staring at the car with wide eyes and he looks scared all over again. 

Merlin sighs slowly before getting out again and going over to where Arthur is glued to the snowy spot by the door still. "Arthur. What are you doing?"

Arthur looks at Merlin and then looks down at his glove covered hands. "I'm still not sure what to think of all this." He says and he looks back up at Merlin and Merlin frowns as he sees the tears start to swell in Arthur's eyes. 

Merlin puts his hand on Arthur's arm. "I'm sorry Arthur." He says and he hesitates before grabbing Arthur's hand in his. He looks up to see Arthur's gaze now on there clasped hands. "I forgot that you weren't around for everything, to see it all evolve and change over time." He continues and Arthur meets his gaze, eyes still watery and tears leak out of the sides without Arthur noticing. "I know I have to go slow at explaining everything to you. And that you'll need time to catch up. I'm just new to all this explaining stuff and I know I'm awful at it but if you go trust me I promise I'll try my best, just for you." 

Arthur grabs Merlin's other hand slowly and they look up and lock eyes in the dark. Arthur's blue eyes shine bright in the half covered moonlight. 

"Merlin," Arthur whispers but it sounds loud in the darkness and empty air between them. "I'm bad at it to. I need to realize that this also new for you in a way. That you never had to explain some of the simplest things to people and that having me here has thrown your life out of control and all. But I trust you. I always have and I always will." He looks down at there hands again, holding tighter than before and then back up to Merlin's eyes. 

Arthur brings his hand up to Merlin's shoulder and makes his way up to Merlin's face. He moves slowly, hesitant with every move he makes. Merlin doesn't move or take his eyes off Arthur's and Merlin gets goose bumps all over his body- and it's not from the cold. 

He leans in close and Merlin sees him swallow. "Don't move." He whispers and Merlin nods his head in one jerky motion. 

They might have kissed before but that was in the spur of the moment is what they would call it. 

This one seems more intimate than anything they've ever done, even over the past years they spent together as king and manservant.

Merlin holds his breath as Arthur leans in even closer and before he knows it, Arthur's lips are on his ever so gently. 

Neither of them move and Merlin is sure that Holly is freaking out in the car. But Merlin nor Arthur seem to care. 

Arthur pulls back a little so all he can see is the blue of Merlin's eyes. Merlin sees Arthur searching his eyes for something but he's not sure what. It seems like he thinks Merlin has all the answers. Man does he wish that were true.

He leans in again and presses a little harder down on Merlin's lips and Merlin closes his eyes while pressing his whole body up against Arthur who was not prepared for that as he stumbles a little and grabs Merlin's arm with the hand that's not on his cheek for support. 

He regains his balance and moves his hand up from Merlin's arm up to his shoulder. 

He feels something wet on his hand and that makes him pull back and look down at Merlin's shoulder to see two little beady eyes watching him. 

"I think she wanted a kiss to." Merlin whispers and Arthur smiles at the dragon then looks back up at Merlin who is already smiling at Arthur. 

"We should go." Merlin says and Arthur slowly nods his head. "I'll help you." They walk over to the passenger side of the car- which isn't really a car per-say- it's a grand cherokee jeep to be exact.

He opens the door for Arthur and Arthur hesitates before climbing in. "You take this strap and put it across your body and stick this part in the clip in the seat beside you." He explains and Arthur does as told but Merlin has to help a little.

Merlin climbs into his seat and does his seatbelt up before Holly has a chance to say anything. 

After a few minutes of driving the silence is broken. By you guessed it, Holly. 

"Are we just going to pretend that didn't just happen?!" She bursts out making Arthur jump a little but Merlin was waiting for her to do or say something. 

"What do you mean?" Arthur asks and she looks at him like he's crazy in the review mirror. 

"What do I mean?!" She repeats. "Um just that two legends or myths or whatever you guys are called these days just kissed." She says her eyes focusing on the road ahead of them but she's still freaking out. 

"I don't see your point." Arthur continues on and Merlin tries not to smile as he looks out the window. 

"My point is I just witnessed history." She explains in one big breath. "I am the luckiest person ever I swear to god." She then squeals as she puts both hands on the wheel directly in front of her while puffing out air. 

Arthur taps Merlin on the shoulder. "Does this happen often? Her being like this?" He asks and Merlin laughs and turns around to face Arthur who has leaned forward to talk better. 

"Yeah. You get used to it. Or maybe that's just me and I've grown accustomed to people being weird and random." Merlin says shrugging and he laughs as Holly hits his shoulder. "Ow you ass." 

Merlin doesn't have to see Arthur's face to know he's smirking. "See I'm not the only one who hits you." Smartass.

"Arthur. Shut up." 

They drive for a little in almost silence as there is a small sound of the music coming from the speakers. 

He doesn't turn it up anymore than it is already because music coming from a speaker is something that can wait to be explained to Arthur. 

Holly pulls into a parking lot and Merlin climbs out as does Holly and they shut there doors. Merlin pulls his hood closer to his head and puffs his scarf out and up more and Lilith snuggles up to his neck and Merlin can't help but giggle slightly as her scales rub against his skin on his collarbone.

They both look at each other before Merlin sighs and opens Arthur's door to find Arthur leaning half way out the door with his seat belt still clipped. 

Merlin laughs and shakes his head, climbing into the car while shaking his head and reaching over to undo his seatbelt which makes both of them fall on the floor of the jeep with all the moving around Arthur did in the process.

"Arthur. You need to learn how to undo a seat belt." Merlin says and Arthur grins up from under him. 

He leans in close, eyes bright. "Wasn't it the opposite early? Weren't you on the bottom?" He says as Merlin blushes bright red. 

"Can we not talk about that now." He says as he climbs off Arthur and out the door, leaving the king to get himself up.

They close the door and Holly locks it. They make there way to the gate and pay the fee to get in and Arthur moves so close to Merlin that Merlin steps on Arthur's foot more than once. 

He turns around and sees Arthur's gaze flick from one thing to the next and his eyes to big. "Wow." He whispers but he's so damn close to Merlin that it sounds like he says it normally.

"Yeah. So this your highness, is a fair." Holly says sticking her hands in her long trench coat. Almost like the one she was wearing on Halloween but- nope never mind. As he looks closer he realizes that it is the same coat. Just the bottoms of her skinny jeans and her boots showing.

"Are these everywhere?" He asks as they walk slowly into the fair grounds and people walk all around them, laughing and talking loudly but Arthur doesn't seem to care as his eyes are on all the games lined up. 

"No they only happen once a year. Maybe if you're lucky there will be another one in the next town over or some place close to you." Merlin explains and Arthur's wide eyes meet his and he grins laughing. "Come on, lets go get some bracelets."

They walk over to the ticket booth and a young girl is working it. 

"Hello, how can I help you?" She asks eyeing Arthur and Merlin grows defensive immediately. He'd lie to himself and say he doesn't know why but in all honesty he even thinks Lilith knows why.

"Um we will take three bracelets please." Holly says throwing down 90$ before Merlin can stop her. The girl rolls her eyes. She gets the bracelets and Holly puts her hand in the hole in the glass and the girl puts the bracelet on her wrist. 

She does the same for Merlin and goes super slow when she does Arthur's, touching his arm and hand while giving him a sweet smile that makes Merlin tense and Lilith growls making Holly snicker. 

"Okay." Merlin says loudly and the girls attention goes from Arthur Merlin and her eyes go hard. "Thank you but we really should get going." He says glaring at her as he grabs Arthur and drags him away. 

"Merlin?"

"Mmhm?" 

"Why is that guy dressed as a jester but old and with a long beard?" 

Merlin furrows his eyebrows and follows where Arthur is motioning and goes bright red. Holly seems to notice and bursts out laughing. 

"Oh my god. Knowing what I know makes this whole thing even better. I totally forgot about it." She says coming up to stand beside Merlin and Arthur just looks confused. 

"I don't understand." Arthur says and Merlin groans.

"Arthur, here you and Merlin are legends, myths." Holly explains. "Everyone here loves the story of you two. I mean they probably have it all wrong but they still love it." She explains and Arthur frowns confused.

"I still don't see your point."

"So what I'm trying to say is that people dress up as you two. What they think you looked like back then." She says and Arthur gaze goes to the guy in costume then back to Merlin and then to the guy again. 

"Don't tell me that's what they think I look like." Arthur says and Holly snickers while Merlin groans again.

"Nope. Not you." 

Arthur's gaze goes to Merlin and he soon joins Holly in laughing. "Wait. They think that's what you look like? Do they not know you're my age?" He asks then looks at the guy again before laughing all over again.

Merlin rolls his eyes. "Yes so funny. There going by what they think. It's not like I can waltz right up to them and be like 'hey guys, it's really me Merlin the Sorcerer and I look nothing like that dumb costume'. Yeah that'll go over well." He says crossing his arms but can't help but smile as they come down from there laughing high. 

"But why so old?" Arthur says frowning as he looks over at the costume again.

"Because I'm over thousands of years old and that's what they think I'd look like now I guess. That and they also say I changed to an old man back in the day as well to help you out." Merlin says then smirks. 

Arthur looks at him. "Why are you smirking? That's a ridiculous story." He says 

"Well there not wrong. Not entirely anyway." He shrugs his shoulders and shoves his hands in the pockets. 

"What do you mean?"

Merlin chuckles. "I really did change to an old man to help you out." Holly starts laughing all over again but Arthur didn't join her this time.

"You did what?" 

Holly leans against an abandoned bench and takes in big breaths of air as she continues to laugh. 

Merlin sits beside her. "Well when I couldn't go with you I had to sort of..... improvise. You even said you thought you knew me at one point while I was the old man." 

Arthur sits beside him. "How? You were an old man how could I have possibly recognized you?"

Merlin smiles looking down at his hands. "You said you recognized my eyes." 

Merlin looks up as Arthur makes a face then he looks down. "Yeah. That I remember saying and it's very true." He tells Merlin looking back up. 

"Okay lets go on some rides. Holly are you done dying?" Merlin says standing up changing the subject and Holly is leaning against the bench grinning. 

She stands up. "Yeah I'm all good. Sort of. I'll probably laugh about it later again." She says walking ahead of them and goes to a food booth. 

So much for rides right now.

"She will. I'll never be able to live this one down. It'll be hundreds of years from now and I'll still look back as of how Holly laughed at me for a solid good 10 minutes." Merlin says chuckling and Arthur grins as they follow Holly.

"I thought we were going on, rides? Is this a ride? It seems boring." 

Merlin smiles shaking his head. "Oh Arthur." He says. He can't believe that he has to teach Arthur everything there is to know. How he wishes he had someone else from there home to help. 

He feels a little off without having a third party with them, yeah Holly is with them but she won't ever understand. What is it that small keeper said at the one bridge? Three things were needed to complete the task or something like that. Him and Arthur were barley alone back in Camelot. A knight was always close by. 

He's magic obviously, Arthur is.... um.... courage? Is that correct? He doesn't know what the last one was. 

Can't seem to remember the one word. 

He frowns and Arthur notices. "Hey, why are you frowning?" 

Merlin looks up and throws him a grin and pulls himself from those thoughts. "Just thinking." Is all he says and turns back to the booth as Holly makes her way to them with a to-go container of fries.

"What does she have?" Arthur asks as she comes over to them, Merlin steals a fry making her pout and glare at him. 

He puts the fry in his mouth. "There called fries and there heaven on earth." He says after he swallows the fry in his mouth. 

Arthur raises an eyebrow. "Heaven on earth?" 

"Yeah. Just try one." Merlin holds a fry out to Arthur who takes it and stares at it for a few seconds before slowly putting it in his mouth. 

After he chews for a second he grins. "That's really good." He says and steals another one from Holly. 

"Guys! I bought this food for me!" She says and Merlin and Arthur chuckle. 

"Lets go on some rides now." Merlin says grabbing Arthur's arm and pulling him through the booths and swarm of adults and children and teenagers of all ages. 

They go to a boat that goes back and fourth and turns in circles as well. 

Arthur leans in close to Merlin as they wait in line, Holly sitting on the bench eating her fries. "Do you think Lilith will be okay on the rides? Or should you leave her with Holly?"

Merlin looks over at Holly then he looks down at his shoulder where the dragon is hiding under his scarf, all you see of her is her eyes watching him. 

He feels her move closer to him and he knows the answer to Arthur's question.

"No. She'll be okay on me." He mumbles to Arthur then smirks. "Do you honestly think she'll be safer with Holly than with me, even on a ride?" He feels Arthur chuckle up against his back and Merlin sucks in a breath as he slowly leans his back against Arthur, worried that he's pushing his limit. 

But Arthur just puts his hands on Merlin's sides and leans his head against the back of Merlin's hat. Arthur's breath warm on the back of his neck. They move slow, everything is new to them, this territory.

They get to the front of the line finally and show the guy there bracelets and they pick a spot not to far from the back but also not in the very middle. 

He lets Arthur sit on the inside and Arthur grabs his hand, startling Merlin. 

Arthur looks scared. Very scared. 

Merlin squeezes his hand and gives Arthur a reassuring smile before the carnie comes over and pulls the lever down and makes sure there buckles are done up right. 

"You'll be fine Arthur. You fought bandits in the middle of the woods and are the king, I think you can ride a ride. This is so much fun trust me." Merlin whispers to him in his ear because he can't talk normally with all the chatter and laughter going on around them. 

Arthur slowly nods his head as Merlin pulls back. His eyes flick down to his neck where he can just barley make out two little eyes blink. 

The ride starts moving and Merlin smiles while Arthur looks like he's about to die all over again but from a different reason this time. 

He clings to Merlin like he's going to be taken by bandits as the ride moves back and forth. 

Merlin leans in to Arthur again. "Relax. Have fun." He says to him and Arthur shakily nods his head before forcing himself to relax and smile even though he's scared out of his mind. 

As the ride goes, Merlin's laughter takes over Arthur's senses and his body relaxes at the sound of Merlin's laugh. 

And before he knows it, he's joining Merlin with laughter of his own, as the ride spins and goes back and forth a few times. 

The ride ends as soon as it began and both legends climb off the ride still smiling like idiots and laughing with each other. 

"I take it you liked the ride?" Holly says from her spot on the bench. Her fries now gone and she's just smiling at the two boys as they try to stop laughing. 

"Yes. Much more than I thought I was going to." Arthur says and grins at Merlin who is to busy checking on the dragon to notice the look of pure adoration in Arthur's eyes. 

But Holly noticed it. She notices a lot of stuff the others don't think she does. 

All the looks and glances they throw each other when the other one isn't looking are her favourite. She gets to see them slowly fall for each other all over again without them even realizing it themselves. 

At certain times she swear she can hear wedding bells. But that also just might be her imagination going wild.

"Can we go see that Merlin guy? You know the one dressed as you?" Arthur asks as Merlin rolls his eyes. 

"Fine." 

Holly chuckles shaking her head at the boys. 

They make there way back the way they came and Arthur and Holly start laughing again once the costume guy comes in view and Merlin can't help but chuckle along with them this time. It is pretty funny. 

Arthur grins. "This is ridiculous." He chuckles and Merlin nods his head as they make there way towards him. He's got kids around him as he's making balloon animals for them. 

"Hey can you do a magic trick?" Holly asks and for a minute he thinks she's asking him but then realizes she's asking the wanna be Merlin.

He grins at her. "I can do my signature trick if you'd like." 

Arthur leans to Merlin and whispers, "You have a signature move?" 

Merlin shrugs his shoulders. "Not really. Like I guess I move stuff a lot with my magic but that's about it. I can do a lot of things but I don't think I have a signature one." He explains to Arthur. 

"What was that?" Both Merlin and Arthur look up to see all eyes on them as the Merlin fake calls them out. 

"What?" Merlin says like the bright person he is.

"You were telling this man beside you how you can do magic. And how you're Merlin and that you don't have a signature move which I think is false all together." He says and Merlin raises his eyebrows. 

He chuckles nervously. "No I'm not- I never said." He licks his lips and looks at Arthur for help but Arthur's just smirking and has his arms crossed. 

"Yes you did. I heard you. And Merlin- I do have a signature move." He says crossing his arms. "I am magic itself. You are just a human." 

That's when Holly starts laughing. Loud and hard. "I think I need to step away for a moment I'm sorry." She says between laughs as she walks away.

"Okay Merlin. What's his- your signature move then?" Merlin asks and the fake guy grins. 

"Why would I show you? You just accused me of not being Merlin and not having magic." He says and Arthur chuckles. 

"You should show him a trick." Arthur says to Merlin who looks at him like he's crazy. 

"What why?" 

"Just do it." 

With a sigh Merlin cups his hands together and mumbles a few words under his breath keeping his eyes closed as they turn gold. He opens his eyes and his hands and a blue butterfly flies out.

The kids around them awe and clap. Merlin looks over to see Arthur smiling at him with amazement and Merlin can't help but feel his cheeks heat up and he knows his face is red again. 

"How did you do that?" The fake Merlin asks. 

Merlin holds his hand out towards the guy. "Hi, I'm Merlin." And he motions towards Arthur. "And that is Arthur." He says pulling his hand back and stepping beside Arthur as the kids all go away and run to rides and stuff. 

"No really who are you?" The guy asks chuckling. When neither lad says anything his smile goes away. "Wait you're serious?" 

Merlin nods his head. "Yup." 

Holly comes over ignoring the dude. "That butterfly was so pretty. I mean not as cool as Lilith but still pretty damn cool." She says and turns around to see the guy standing behind them confused. "Oh hello fake Merlin."

"Hi yeah who's Lilith?" He asks and they all throw each other a look. 

"Just tell him, he won't believe you anyway." Arthur says and Holly nods before chuckling. 

Merlin shrugs. "She's my dragon." He simply says. He smiles before he walks away with Arthur and Holly beside him. 

"I think we confused the poor fellow." Arthur says and Merlin smiles and nods his head. 

"I guess that's what he gets for making me look like that." Merlin says and they all laugh.


	11. “What happened?”

"Did you see that?!" Holly yells as she comes off the mini roller coaster laughing. "He threw up! On the ride. Like it's so small, and not really crazy. How do you throw up on it?" She asks coming over and sitting beside Merlin who's feeding Lilith french fries he bought for him and Arthur.

"He threw up?" Arthur asks them and looks at the ride Holly just came off of and frowns scrunching up his face like he used to do back in the days in Camelot. 

Merlin looks down at the small dragon on his shoulder under his scarf and frowns. 

"Hey you okay?" Holly asks and Arthur’s attention gets taken away from a ride he was watching to Merlin. 

Merlin looks up and pulls a fake smile on his face. "Yeah. Totally okay." 

Arthur frowns and Holly scoffs. "Okay so I call bullshit. What's really wrong?" She says crossing her arms and turning her whole body to face Merlin.

Merlin's fake smile disappears as if it wasn't there to begin with and his frown replaces it in seconds. 

"It's nothing. It's stupid and I'm dumb to even get upset about it." He says standing up and making his way towards the parking lot with a frown etched on his face. 

He can feel the other two stare at him and it's not long after he hears foot steps crush the fallen snow as they rush up to him. "Merlin, hold up."

Merlin slows down just a little but doesn’t fully stop for Arthur to catch up to him. Arthur gently grabs ahold of Merlin’s sleeve making him stop and face the king who looks concerned and a little frustrated. 

“What’s going on Merlin? You were just happy two seconds ago.” He says frowning. Merlin sighs and looks down at his snow covered boots. 

“I was just thinking about what Holly said before. About reincarnation and everything and how if others from Camelot are here they wouldn’t recognize us.” He chooses his words carefully and frowns while saying them. He doesn’t meet Arthur’s gaze but keeps his gaze on the ground. 

It’s silent for a few moments before Arthur says anything. 

“Merlin?” He whispers and Merlin lifts his gaze up from the ground up to the blue eyes of the Pendragon. “I’m sure they would come up to you, even if they thought they were crazy.” He says his hand sliding down from his sleeve to his glove covered hand. “Would you recognize anyone of the knights if they came up to you? Or if you randomly saw them one day?” He asks and Merlin doesn’t even think or hesitate before answering.

“Of course I would.” He says frowning. “There faces are burned into my memory. All those trips into the woods and tasks that we’ve done together are in my brain and I won’t ever forget them.” He says shaking his head and Arthur smiles softly at the sad Warlock. 

“Well then maybe Holly is wrong and they would remember you and all those adventures we’ve been on.” He says and Merlin slowly starts to grin at the thought of seeing the knights again even after all this time. 

“Maybe. That would be amazing you know. To have them all back again.” He says and Arthur squeezes his hand grinning at him before letting his hand go.

“Exactly. If anyone knows about waiting for someone it’s you.” He says and Merlin chuckles nodding his head. 

“That my friend is very true. I waited so long for your butt that I’ve forgotten all about it.” Merlin says and Arthur can’t seem to get mad at how Merlin forgotten him. 

“Hey. You’re the cute guy who bought the brackets.” The girl from the booth says walking over to them grinning as she eyes Arthur up. 

Merlin feels his blood boil and he feels his magic at the tips of his fingers, ready to be used. 

“Um hello?” Arthur says confused crossing his arms. 

“Yeah hi. I was wondering if you wanted to go on some rides with me.” She asks as if Merlin isn’t even there in the first place. 

“What? And just leave my friends?” He asks sounding a tad bit mad. 

Oh this is going to be good. 

Her eyes flick to Merlin and they have a little spark of surprise there like she just noticed Merlin with him. 

“Yeah hi. I’m one of the friends.” He says giving her a fake smile and narrowed eyes.

She crosses her arms over her chest glares at Merlin not even caring that it looks bad to Arthur. 

“Well I’m sure you can go find some other friends. Or just go home. Isn’t it past your bedtime anyways?” She sneers and Merlin just laughs and Arthur chuckles. 

“Listen to yourself. Compared to you, I’m old enough to tell you to go to bed. You’re just a young girl who’s throwing her self at random guys she doesn’t even know one bit. You should not be prowling on guys who you can’t seem to take a hint aren’t interested.” He says chuckling and Arthur bites back a smile as he tries to hold in a laugh. 

She opens her mouth to say something but gets interrupted. 

“Yeah hi bitch. I’m the other friend.” Holly says tapping the girl on the shoulder. “And those two don’t swing your way honey. Go find some other helpless boy who will pay you for your pathetic time.” Holly says smiling sweetly as the girl gapes at her.

“You fucking bitch.” The girl snaps and Holly shakes her head while Merlin is laughing and Arthur looks very highly amused. “I am not a prostitute. How dare you assume that!” She almost screams. 

“Did you not listen to her?” Arthur speaks up for the first time in awhile. “I’m not interested. Well not in you anyway.” He says his arms still crossed and the girl flips her black hair over her shoulder as she looks back at Arthur and smiles. 

“I’ll change your mind pretty quick boy.” She says and winks making Merlin gag and she shoots him a glare. 

“Sense none of us can seem to get through to you with words let me show you.” Arthur says and the girls full attention goes to him as she awaits him to show her. 

He turns back to a confused but very amused Merlin and grabs his face and presses there lips together taking Merlin by surprise and Holly bursts out laughing and the girl gasps. But those are just background noise to the two boys kissing by the parking lot. 

“Fucking gays. I swear.” She screams in a huff and storms back into the fair grounds as the two lads pull apart but not far from each other. 

“I think that went quite well actually.” Holly says coming up to Merlin and Arthur who are just staring at each other and Holly smiles to herself. 

“I think it’s time to go home.” Arthur mumbles and turns to look at Holly who’s got her eyebrows raised but a smile on her face either way. 

She shrugs. “Okay. Whatever you say your highness.” She says and bows as they make there way back to her Jeep. 

They climb in and before Merlin can get far, Arthur pulls him into the back seat with him and he leans his head against his shoulder and Merlin smiles while leaning his head against Arthur’s and they both close there eyes. 

Holly keeps the music on low as she drives out of the parking lot. She keeps her eyes on what’s in front of her but keeps glancing back at the two boys in the back once in a while. 

This is the happiest she’s ever seen Merlin. And she’s known Merlin for what feels like forever which isn’t true now that she knows everything. 

She still has some questions but those are for another time. 

She really wants to know the true story about Arthur and his kingdom. There are so many different stories and theories out there on those two but no one really knows the truth. 

Except for Merlin and Arthur themselves. 

She still is having a hard time wrapping her brain around that it’s really them. There a few moments where she was sceptical but those vanished as Merlin produces a butterfly out of nothing. He couldn’t have randomly caught it because it’s to cold for butterfly’s. Plus the dragon helped a lot as well. 

A dragon. 

She sighs wondering what there going to do with a dragon as she gets older and bigger. 

It’s not like they can just release her into the wild. 

Imagine if someone found her? Just going through a stroll in the woods on a nice Sunday morning when all of a sudden a fucking giant lizard comes flying out at you. 

Yeah no thank you. She would die of a heart attack if that ever happened to her. 

She slowly comes to a stop as the light turns red and it’s silent on the empty snowy streets. She closes her eyes and leans her head against the steering wheel of her vehicle for a moment before lifting her head back up and focusing on the road. 

After a few moments the light turns green and she puts her foot on the gas to go and only makes it a little ways into the intersection when something smashes into the side of her car sending her car and everyone in it flying and rolling. 

After everything finally stops and the car is stilled upside down and she can focus on something she slowly starts moving her limbs, checking to see if everything is working. So far so good. 

She slowly turns around to see Arthur and Merlin hanging like rag dolls from the seat belts. She slowly reaches out and just barley reaches Merlin. 

“Merlin? Merlin!” She yells and he groans but doesn’t open his eyes as tears fill her eyes but she doesn’t let them spill as her gaze goes to the king. “Arthur?” She asks and she can’t seem to reach him from her spot. 

She slowly undoes her seat belt and groans as she lands on broken shards of glass and slides out of the car and grabs her phone she found laying on the road a few feet away and dials 911. 

“Hello what’s the emergency?” A women on the other end asks politely. 

Unstoppable tears start rolling down Holly’s cheeks. “We were in accident. Someone hit us and now I can’t get my friends out of the car and there hurt and I’m freaking out.” She says as she wipes blood from her forehead. But it’s just keeps coming. 

She hears the lady on the other end gasp. “Oh my god okay I have picked up your location and help is on the way. Can you try to wake up your friends for me?” The lady’s asks sounding so worried. 

Holly shakily nods her head but then remembers that she can’t see her goes, “Ye-ah.” She says between a hiccup. 

She rushes over and gets on her hands and knees, ignoring the pain it brings her and goes to Merlin and Arthur as best as she can. 

“Merlin, c’mon wake up you idiot.” She says as more tears roll down her cheeks as she pushes Merlin a little and he groans and moves his head and Holly lets out a sigh of relief because he’s alive. 

Then she looks over at Arthur who hasn’t moved or made a sound sense they got in the car. 

She hears sirens coming up fast to her and she rushes out into the road and yells for them. “Over here! Please help!” She sobs as they come to a stop in front of her and fire trucks follow along with police cars. 

One of he paramedics rushes over to her. “What happened?” She asks her eyes scanning over Holly. 

“Someone hit us and sent us flying. My friends are still in the car.” She sobs as the lady rushes her over to a stretcher and others rush to the car to get the other two out. 

A police lady asks a bunch of questions and Holly tries her best to answer them while the paramedic lady checks on Holly’s head and bleeding forehead. 

But the stops short when she sees them bring Merlin over on a stretcher. She jumps off the the stretcher she’s on and runs over to Merlin. 

“Merlin! Oh my god.” She sobs and he slowly blinks at her and for a moment he looks at her confused and she fears he’s forgotten all about her. 

“What-? I don’t understand? What happened? Where’s Arthur?” He asks and Holly is fearing that he’s forgotten everything over the last millions of years. But relief washes over Holly when he goes, “Holly, where’s Arthur what happened?” He asks as tears well up in his eyes. 

Her gaze goes to the car just as they get Arthur out and Merlin follows her gaze and gasps. 

“Arthur!” He screams and goes to get up but he gets pushed down again by paramedics. “No I have to check on him! I’m the fine one here not him!” He screams but it’s ends in a sob and Holly joins him. 

“We need to get you guys to the hospital.” The one guy says and Holly just cries as they lead her away and put Merlin in an ambulance and she gets in another just as another one pulls up beside them. 

They lay her down as silent tears roll down her face as she thinks that if Arthur died again it’ll be her fault and Merlin would never forgive her. 

She sobs again into her hands and the lady frowns at her and brushes her hair away from her cut to examine it again. 

After what feels like only a few moments they pull up to the hospital and Holly isn’t sure what happens, maybe they gave her something but she’s passed out in seconds. 

 

Merlin on the other hand is wide awake and loosing his mind. Is Arthur alright? Will he be okay? Is he dead? 

What even happened? Holly was to busy crying to give him a proper answer. 

Where’s Lilith? 

He closes his eyes at the bright lights of the lamps outside the hospital and frowns as they bring him in and he hears noise all around him but he blocks it out only listening for one voice. 

Arthur’s. 

Tears slip out the corners of his eyes as they take him to a random room. 

They take his clothes and help him put on a gown, carful of the wires and stuff. They hook him up to a bunch of different things and he just lays there not caring that he’s getting needles jabbed into his arm. They give him something because before he can ask any questions or answer any, he’s passed out.


	12. “Why a doctor?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ayeee yeah I took a while to publish this, but I've got more chapters ready to publish... Let me know what you guys think. God I want Merlin to come back and make the 6th season or even a spin off, anything to see these losers again.

Merlin groans as he opens his eyes to a blinding bright light making him close them just as fast. He brings his hands up to his eyes and rubs them hard before slowly opening his eyes again and looking around the room confused as to where he is and what happened.

He looks over to see a girl with blonde hair in a messy bun and her eyes closed as she sleeps in a chair. A chair that doesn't even look comfy.

He looks around a notices he's in the hospital and everything comes crashing down on him and he gasps, looking around quickly and grabs one of the pillows from behind his head and chucks it at the girl in the chair to wake her up, not caring if this is the only sleep she's gotten.

She slowly wakes up and blinks her blue eyes slowly and her gaze goes to Merlin as a huge grin makes its way onto her face and he now notices the stitches on her forehead and frowns.

"Merlin, oh thank god you're awake. Nurses have been coming and going in here for the past few days checking on you and wondering when or even if you were going to wake up. I knew you'd wake up because, well you're you." She says shrugging before jumping off the chair and rushing over to him as she throws her arms around him and he smiles as he hugs her back awkwardly with all the wires and stuff attached to him.

"Holly," he asks as she pulls away. "Um how am I here? Like, I'm not suppose to even exist." He says and she shrugs her shoulders.

"Beats me. I have no idea honestly." She says and Merlin frowns remembering.

"Where's Arthur?" He asks and she chuckles. "I'm not sure why you're chuckling, you could have gotten us killed Holly." He says frowning and she frowns and looks down at her lap.

"I didn't mean to. The light turned green and I was just pulling up to go when some idiot hit us from the side sending us flying." She explains and Merlin frowns.

Now he feels like an ass for yelling at her. "I'm sorry Holly." He says and she looks away and wipes a tear that's escaped.

"Yeah well. It's fine now." She says and just as she says that a nurse walks in and stops in her tracks when's she looks at Merlin before turning back around and rushing out of the room as she sees Merlin is now awake.

"Well that wasn't weird." He says.

Holly only chuckles. "Remember what I said, they didn't even expect you to wake up." She says and he joins her chuckling.

"Where are we anyway?" He asks and she scrunches up her eyebrows thinking.

"Um I think it's called San Antonio Memorial? I'm not to sure though." She says shrugging and Merlin tries to rack his brain for the hospital but comes up blank.

"Yeah I got nothing." He says shaking his head and she just shrugs.

"Hey I'm going to go get some food from the cafe, I'll be back. The doctor should be coming any time now sense you're awake." Holly says and Merlin nods his head as she gets up and leaves, shutting the door behind her.

Merlin lets out a big sigh as he leans his head against his not so comfy pillow closing his eyes.

He doesn't look when the door opens and shuts in front him, knowing its either Holly or a random doctor.

"Mr. um emrys?" A voice asks and his eyes snap open and looks up to see a guy standing in front of him in a doctors coat as he reads over his clipboard. He looks up and meets Merlin's gaze. "Hello, I'm Dr. Callahan. How are you feeling?"

Merlin can't seem to think of anything at the moment. "Um I think I'm seeing things." He says not taking his eyes from the doctor.

He chuckles lightly. "Yeah hitting your head at the rate you did will do that to you." He says writing something down on the paper.

Merlin clears his throat. "Where's Arthur?" He asks and the guy stops writing and blinks up at Merlin frowning.

"Arthur? The blonde one that was with you guys? He's okay. A little banged up but okay and apparently he's been asking about you. I haven't gone to see him because I'm not his doctor." He says and Merlin can't help but feel relief wash over him.

"Oh thank god. I just got him back, I can't lose him again." Merlin says more to himself then the doctor who's giving him a strange look.

"I'm sorry. I'm having such a strange déjà vu moment. Have we met?" He asks loosing his whole doctor stance and looks just as Merlin remembers him. Just this version of him doesn't know Merlin and he's actually cleaned up with a hair cut and everything and goes by the name Callahan.

"Why do you think we've met before?" Merlin asks and the guy just stares at Merlin.

"It's just that- I feel like I know you..... but I'm not sure from what...." He says and Merlin can feel his heart beat increasing and he knows the doctor can as well because the heart rate monitor starts going crazy. "Wait so let me get this straight. So your name is Merlin and your friends name is Arthur?" He asks and Merlin nods his head.

"Yeah. I feel like I know you as well." Merlin says but Merlin knows that he definitely knows him.

"Huh. Maybe we do know each other." The doctor says.

"Does the name Pendragon mean anything to you?" Merlin asks and the doctor freezes up. He looks up at Merlin and his eyes widen and his head goes into his hands as he groans.

Merlin gasps. "Oh my god are you okay?" He asks slowly getting up and reaching over to grab the doctor.

"Yeah, I- I'm okay now." He says and looks up at Merlin confused. "Just a headache." He says and Merlin frowns as the doctor gets up and leaves.

I think it's time to go home.

He slowly pulls the wires out of his arms ignoring the beeping and the sting of pain along with it. He sees his clothes are in the corner and frowns but then remembers Holly probably went to his place and grabbed some clothes for him.

He slips them on wincing at the pain in his side. He grabs everything he needs and goes into the hallway confused as to where to go because he doesn't seem to remember ever coming here- he would have remembered Dr. Callahan. 

He goes to the front office. "Hello can you tell me what room Arthur Pendragon is in?" He asks and the lady smiles.

"Yeah room 207." She says before going back to her phone conversation.

He makes his way to the elevator and pushes the bottom and gets on and just as the door is closing a hand stops it and it's Dr. Callahan.

He's breathing heavily and groans are the doors close and he bends over to catch his breath.

"Mer-lin. Man are you're quick. Even hurt." He says and lets out a big breath as he stands up straight.

"Can I help you?" Merlin asks confused.

"You just left your room. Pulled out all the wires and left without even questioning if you're okay or not. Yeah I have to check on you." He says and leans against the wall and eyes Merlin.

"Oh right." Merlin says but he doesn't really care because he'll heal eventually. He's just worried about Arthur. "I don't even care really about my health. I know I'm okay. I'm just worried about Arthur. I'm always worried about Arthur." He mumbles the last part but sense it's only them two in the elevator dr. Callahan hears him.

"Always worried about him?" He says and he grabs his head again and he slides down the wall grabbing his head and groaning.

Merlin rushes over to him and gets on his knees and grabs his shoulders. "Hey oh my god are you okay? What's happening?"

After a longer moment then before in the room the doctor looks up confused out of his mind and when his eyes meet Merlin's he grins and Merlin can't help but grin back.

"Merlin. Never thought I'd see you again honestly....." He says and Merlin's eyes widen as he backs away. "Well don't just stand there like a deer, help me up. My head is killing me, feels like I have a bad hangover." He says holding his hand out for Merlin to take, and he does hesitantly.

"Um doctor Callahan? Are you okay?" Merlin asks and the doctor laughs.

"Callahan. Right. Him. Merlin stop calling me Callahan." He says shaking his head and running his hands through his hair.

"What? Why? That's your name." Merlin says his heart pounding fast. Does he remember like Merlin does?

The doctor gives him a look he knows all to well he used to get from Gawain all the time back in Camelot when Merlin did or said something stupid.

"Seriously Merlin? Do I have to spell it out for you?" He asks and Merlin's eyes widen.

"No way." He asks.

He grins. "Yes way." The bell dings and the doors open and they step out the doors and make there way to Arthur's room.

They open the door and Arthur's worried gaze goes straight to Merlin and he breaks into a giant grin.

"Merlin!" He exclaims and Merlin's rushes over to him and throws himself at him as Arthur wraps his arms around him from laying in the bed.

"I was so worried about you." Merlin says in to Arthur's shoulder. He feels Arthur relax against him.

He pulls away only a little so he can smile down at Arthur and he grins back.

A cleared throat breaks there small connection and they both look over at the figure in the doorway.

Arthur's eyes widen.

He shuts the door behind him and slowly walks into the room as Arthur and Merlin both look at him confused. Arthur more than Merlin.

He clears his throat. "Sire." Is all he says and Merlin breaks out into a wide grin and throws himself at him.

"Oh my god I've missed you so much." Merlin says as his arms tighten around him.

"Wait. Gawain?" Arthur asks confused.

He nods. "Yeah princess." Gawain says and Merlin can't stop grinning. "It's me."

"Why a doctor? Out of all things I did not plague you as a doctor type." Arthur says and Merlin chuckles.

"Yeah I have no idea. Apparently I'm really good at it." He shrugs and Merlin's can't help but laugh at the thought of Gawain back in Camelot a doctor.

"Well can we go home now?" Arthur asks and Gawain grabs the clipboard from the end of the bed and skins through it.

"Well yeah it seems they don't know anything about you. Like you have no family, you don't even come up in the DNA data base. It's like you've appeared out of no where. Which I guess you have in a way. Where did you even come from? You know what? Tell me later I don't have the guts to hear it yet or have the time. And Merlin, you're not in the system either. I called you Emrys because it just felt right. And now I know why it did. Or does." Gawain says confusing himself and making the king and warlock laugh.

"Can we go home Merlin?" Arthur asks and Merlin smiles and nods his head.

"Yeah Holly brought clothes for us." Merlin says and he feels Gawain questioning gaze on his back as he helps Arthur take out the wires and stuff and Arthur grabs his clothes and makes his way to the washroom to change.

"Who's Holly? Is that your girlfriend?" Gawain asks smirking and raising his eyebrows up and down at a quick speed and lightly shoves Merlin, making him roll his eyes chuckling.

"Trust me, she's not my girlfriend. But she wishes." He says making Gawain laugh.

Arthur comes out of the washroom and smiles at Merlin. He walks over to Merlin and throws his arms around him and Merlin burrows his face in the kings neck as if he was going to be taken away from him any moment.

They pull back and Arthur looks at Gawain and he bows his head. He hold his hand out and Gawain takes it without hesitation. "Good to have you back Gawain." He says and Gawain nods his head and grins once they let go.

Just as they let go the door opens and in comes Holly looking around wildly before her gaze lands on Merlin and she lets out a relieved sigh then glares at him. "You jackass! I thought you left the damn building. How could you just leave like that? You don't even know if you're okay to leave you asshole." She blows up and Gawain raises his eyebrows and Arthur looks shocked and Merlin just sighs.

"Is this Holly?"

"Who's he?" She takes in the coat and everything and her mouth shuts up. "Oh shit. I'm sorry. I didn't even realize you were in here." She says going pale and Arthur and Merlin start laughing.

"Yeah that's Holly." Merlin snickers and Gawain joins them.

Holy then goes red and glares at them all. "I hate you all." She says and goes over and huffs in the chair near the bed.

"We're just teasing you Holly. You know I love you." Merlin says and grabs Holly's hands and pulls her up and out of the chair. "We're getting ready to go home now anyway." He says.

She frowns. "Did you get the okay from the doctor?" She asks.

"Yeah that would be me. I say they can go, no holding either of them once they've put there mind to it. Learned from old mistakes." He says shrugging and Merlin and Arthur glance at each other then look at Holly who looks even more confused than before.

"Let's just go home." Arthur says and the others nod there heads. He turns to Gawain. "Are you coming as well?"

Holly furrows her eyebrows even more confused now.

Gawain looks at the clock on the wall and sighs. "Yeah I'll come. I can't exactly say no to you. But I want to come anyway." He says following them out and towards the desk.

Gawain goes over to the front desk and chats with the lady there and he signs some papers and comes back over to them a few moments later. "Okay all good to go. I'm just going to put my coat away and grab my winter coat instead." He says and he heads off and just as quick he's back.

They head out but stop once they realize they don't know where they are and they don't have a way home now.

They all frown at each other.

"What's wrong?" Gawain asks.

"Well we have no clue where we are and don't have a way to get home." Arthur says and Merlin shoves his hands in his pockets and then gasps.

"Oh no." He says and Arthur looks at him quickly and his expression matches Merlin's and Holly soon gets the memo.

"Oh fuck." Holly says and Gawain is just confused.

"Let's get home then go looking for her." Arthur says and Merlin can feel himself start to panic even more than before.

"Hey we can take my car. Merlin just tell me where you live and I'll find my way there." He says not questioning who there talking about yet.

Yet.

Give it time, Gawain is nosey and finds out eventually. Whether people want him to or not.

They all pile in and Merlin tells Gawain where to go and no one talks on the way home. No music is playing but it's almost like they don't need music because the car is full of unanswered questions and that itself is enough to make anyone deaf. They pull up to Merlin's driveway and they all get out going towards Merlin's door. He unlocks it and they all go in, Gawain looking around as they all take there stuff off.

A sound comes from the living room and Merlin drops everything and runs into the living room leaving Gawain even more confused.

"Oh thank god." Merlin says as he sees a tiny head peek up from under the blanket on the couch. "How did you get in?" He asks as the dragon flaps her wings and flys up to his face and starts nudging his face with hers.

"She must have gotten in when I left the door open by accident getting your clothes and stuff." Holly says from behind him.

"What is that?!" Gawain asks standing in the doorway to the living room.

Holly's eyes widen. "Uh a special kind of...... lizard?" She says it more of a question.

He ignores her. "Merlin why do you have a dragon? Where did you even get it from?" He asks and now Holly is the one confused.

"Merlin here thought it would be a great idea to save the dragons. Clearly he doesn't remember what happened the last time a dragon got lose." Arthur throws him a look as he sits in the couch and everyone else follows except Merlin.

Holly in her chair and Gawain on the other cushion on the other end of the couch so there's a spot between them.

"Really Merlin? Don't you remember? Wait," Gawain says turning to face Arthur. "Didn't you kill the dragon? If so then why is there another egg?" He turns back to Merlin. "Where did you get it?"

"You do know that he wasn't the last dragon right? Did you forget Morgana's dragon? Aithūsa?" Merlin asks and then Holly groans.

"How the the hell are you so okay with all this? How are you not freaking out?" She asks.

"Um well, nothing really fazes me anymore." He says not actually telling her who he is.

"I was freaked out. Fine did you know Merlin here is really the Merlin?" She asks and Gawain chuckles at her.

"Yes I knew that." He says.

"Did you know he has magic?" She says and Gawain eyes widen before they land on Merlin then flick to Arthur then back to Merlin.

"You have magic?" He whispers. "Sense when?" He asks. Merlin sits on the cushion between Gawain and Arthur.

"Ever sense I was born. I could move things with magic before I could I talk." He says shrugging. "I never practised it, I was just born with it." Merlin says petting Lilith like a dog as she closes her eyes.

"And you never told me? All those years of being friends and everything. I'm hurt Merlin." Gawain says frowning.

"I couldn't tell you. You would have told Arthur and he would have killed me." Merlin says not taking his eyes from the now sleeping dragon in his lap.

"You wouldn't have killed him right?" Gawain says to Arthur and all eyes including Lilith's goes to Arthur.

Arthur meets Merlin's gaze steady. "Of course not. I would not let anyone or anything come even close to hurting you Merlin, you know that." He says putting his hand on Merlin's shoulder. "God do you know how worried I was in the hospital? Especially when they told me you might not wake up at all. I was crushed. I just got you back and I didn't want to lose you again." Arthur says as he hands go up to Merlin's face and Merlin holds his hands in place on his cheeks as his own tears build up.

"It's been hell without you for so many decades Arthur that when we go to the hospital you're the one I was listening for to make sure you were okay. But when I didn't hear you I thought the worst had happened. I wasn't concerned for me because I know I'll be okay, it's you I get so worried about. I was scared you were leaving me just as soon as I got you back." Merlin says not caring that Holly or Gawain is in the same room as them.

Arthur pulls Merlin's face towards his so fast that he hears a gasp and he's sure it came from Gawain but he doesn't care as he feels Arthur's lips on his own and once again everything fits into place and everyone is just background noise. Everything is right again.

Arthur kisses him hard and Merlin responds just as hard as Arthur's hands stay on Merlin's cheeks and Merlin's go straight to Arthur's blonde hair. They slowly pull back and lean there foreheads against each other and Arthur moves and kisses the top of Merlin's forehead before pulling back fully.

Merlin sighs and looks back to the dragon on his lap watching him and his gaze goes to Holly who's grinning like a fool and then to Gawain.

His eyes are wide and his mouth is hanging open.

"What just happened?" He asks after a few moments.

Holly starts to snicker then goes full on laughing. "I'm sorry I need a drink I think there's something stuck in my throat." She says going into the kitchen still laughing but trying to cover it with a cough.

"That is what we call a kiss." Merlin says. "We had them in Camelot as well even if you didn't get many Gawain." Arthur starts laughing and Merlin joins him as Gawain looks even more confused if that was possible.

"But why did you kiss?" He asks and that makes the boys shut up.

Both lads look at each other and Arthur smiles softly and Merlin mirrors it. "Because it feels right." Arthur finally says his eyes never leaving Merlin's.

Gawain is silent for a moment or two and sighs. "I should have seen this coming in all honesty." He says shrugging and that gets the king and the warlocks attention.

"What do you mean?" Arthur asks.

Gawain chuckles. "You guys aren't very subtle at all you know. With your small glances at each other and how you're always together. And not just because he's your manservant but because you wanted him around Arthur. Everyone could see it. Even Guinevere could see it. You're just glad that Uther didn't catch on." Gawain says shrugging his shoulders and leaning against the back of the couch.

"What do you mean even Guinevere could see it? She was my wife." Arthur says and Merlin looks down at the dragon who moves closer to him, sensing is uneasiness.

Gawain catches it.

"She may have been your wife but she wasn't the one you really wanted to be with though, was she?" Gawain says as Holly comes back in and takes her place in her chair once again with a glass of what looks like orange juice.

Arthur looks away and frowns and Merlin can feel his heart pick up speed again.

"Did everyone know?" Arthur whispers and Gawain hesitates but then slowly nods his head.

"Well almost everyone. Mostly everyone." He says and Holly tilts her head as if to hear the beginning of the conversation in her ear.

Arthur lets out a big sigh and he leans back against the couch and looks over at Merlin beside him. He reaches out and traces his finger tips along Merlin's cheek and jaw.  
"At least I don't have to hide it anymore." He mumbles but they all hear him and Merlin smiles softly and Arthur does it back.

"You guys are so cute." Holly says before yawning. "But your cuteness is making me tired. I'm off to bed." She says. She blows Merlin a kiss and says goodnight to the others before heading up the stairs to her room.

Gawain looks at the clock on the wall and whistles low. "Crap. I should be heading home and getting ready for bed myself, got to work tomorrow." He says standing up and he notices Merlin and Arthur are to into each other, having a low conversation only for there ears making him chuckle to himself. "I'll let myself out." He says louder and they snap out of it and look at him.

"What? Oh you're leaving?" Merlin asks and Gawain shakes his head chuckling. He makes his way to the door and he hears feet coming from behind him.

He turns to grab his coat and sees Merlin and Arthur both now in the kitchen. He puts it on along with his boots and sticks his hat on his head. "Okay. So you guys should come by the hospital and ask for me, I'll get you both pain meds so you guys won't hurt as much. You're both going to feel it in the morning." He says laughing as he heads out the door and into the snowy night.

Merlin turns around and bumps right into a blonde block. "Hi there." He whispers smiling and Arthur smiles at him.

"Hi." He says and closes the distance and Merlin closes his eyes as he feels another pair of lips on his own for the second time that night.

Not that he's complaining.


	13. Broken

 

"I mean, like c'mon," Holly takes a huge bite of her cereal and swallows before continuing. "Lucky Charms is way better than Captain Crunch." She says shaking her head at Merlin. 

"Um you must be mistaken, Captain Crunch is the best. Hands down." Merlin says shaking his head as he stirs his cereal with his spoon. Arthur is flipping through a book he found in the bookcase in the living room and is now sitting beside Merlin trying his best to ignore the two bickering like children. 

"Whatever. Everyone knows Lucky Charms is the best because of the marshmallows." Holly explains then takes a bite of said cereal again. 

Merlin rolls his eyes and shakes his head knowing it's pointless to argue with Holly over food.

Arthur looks up from the weird words and shakes his head. "You guys are ridiculous. It's just food of a sort." He says then winces as he moves wrong and a pain in his side shoots through him. Merlin and Holly frown at each other then they look back to Arthur. He glares at them. "I'm fine, don't give me that look." He snaps and Merlin rolls his eyes again at how ridiculous Arthur is being at the moment but he should have seen this coming. 

Arthur always has to be the big guy and not admit he's hurting when everyone can clearly see he is. 

Merlin's hurting, he'll admit it. His head pounds every once in a while and his back hurts along with his right shoulder. 

"Merlin why don't you use magic to heal him?" Holly asks and Merlin frowns. 

"I can't, I don't have the spell book or even the book with all of the notes that could help me. I have nothing to tell me what I need or how to make anything. If I was back in Camelot then I would be able to figure it out with no problem." He explains shrugging his shoulders then wincing after. It would make it much easier if they were in Camelot, even just for a day or so. 

Holly sighs. "I guess we're going back to see the doctor. Okay so, do you know if he's single or not? Because he was really good looking. But I guess the real question is who is he? He clearly knows you guys and that itself is confusing and terrifying all at once." She says finishing off her cereal and placing her bowl and spoon in the sink after rinsing it out. 

Arthur and Merlin smile at each other. 

It's Arthur who answers her. "His name isn't really Callahan. Not sure where that name came from in all honesty. His name is Gawain. He is- was one of my knights back in uh Camelot." 

Holly nods her head trying to follow along. "Oh. Okay. So he's super old like you guys?" She asks and Merlin snickers and Arthur groans. 

"We aren't that old." He says.

"That's what old people say to make themselves feel better about there age." Merlin laughs at the look on Arthur's face and Holly just grins leaning against the island in the middle of the kitchen.

"I am not old. But you know who is old? Merlin." He says pointing a finger at the dark haired lad beside him quickly. "He's as old as they get." 

He crosses his arms and Merlin glares at him. 

"I'm not old, I don't age." Merlin sticks his tongue out at the king and Arthur does the same. They are mature. Arthur swears he is. 

"You're still old." Arthur says making Holly chuckle and shake her head. 

"So that means you're sleeping with an old guy. How does that make you feel Arthur?" Holly asks and Merlin bursts out laughing as Arthur's face goes blank then he goes beat red and his eyes widen as he looks away and then down at the table then he looks back at Merlin and the red spreads to his ears and down his neck.

"I don't know how I feel about that." He finally says causing the other two to laugh. "And I'm not sleeping with him." He mumbles and crosses his arms sliding more down in the chair.

"Oh Arthur. It's okay, even with my oldness and how rude you are to me all the bloody time, I still love you." He says casually and the room goes silent and Merlin is confused on to why no ones talking but as he meets there gazes, both sets of eyes are wide and staring at him. "What?" Then it finally dwells on him and his eyes go wide and his face goes a pasty white all except the tips of his ears which, as you can guess are bright red. "Oh."

The room is silent and Holly's eyes flick from one person to the other. She slowly backs out of the room and makes her way to the room she's staying in, leaving Arthur and Merlin alone in the kitchen. 

"What did you say?" Arthur asks so quietly that Merlin is almost certain he imagined Arthur saying these words till he repeats them again a little louder and harder so Merlin can hear more. He didn't expect Arthur to react this way. 

Merlin looks down and clears his throat and he feels the tears spring to his eyes and he tries to blink them away. 

This is not how he wanted it to go down. Not at all.

"I- uh." Merlin tries but the words get stuck in his throat as he sees Arthur's hard stare on him. He seals his mouth shut and looks down  again, lost for words. There gone if he had any to begin with with the look Arthur is giving him.

"Why did you say that?" Arthur asks again in the same tone of voice as before. Harsh and commanding, back into being the king Merlin once loved and feared with all his heart.

Merlin blinks and tears drip down his cheeks out of his eyes like small waterfalls. "It- it just slipped out. I'm sorry." He says and he tenses when he hears Arthur move. 

Why does he have to apologize? He's not sure.

He looks up to see Arthur storming out of the room and a sob escapes him as he clamps a hand over his mouth to stop from sound coming out more than it already has. 

He's come a conclusion: 'He doesn't love me back.' 

Merlin feels his heart break and shatter in to a million pieces. He feels cold all over and he can't bring himself to move from the spot at the kitchen table.

He winces when he hears a door slam shut so hard that he can feel the whole house shake and wraps his arms around himself as to hold himself against an unseen force. 

He slowly gets up and quietly makes his way to the living room and to the stairs to his room. It feels like a millions years have passed by the time he gets to his room. He goes in, closes and locks his door sliding down it. Arthur must have gone to the storage room which is roomy enough to be made into another room if he wanted. It technically is another bedroom but Merlin made it into a storage. Or he just left.

The thought of Arthur leaving makes Merlin's insides squirm and squeeze.

Lilith looks up from her spot on the bed and flaps over slowly, feeling her masters distress and sadness as if it were her own. She climbs onto his lap slowly and Merlin can't bring himself to pet her or push her away. She's now the size of a small house cat.

He places his hands together and pulls his knees up to his chest as tears leave his eyes and he doesn't even know how he's going to face Arthur anymore. 

All these years he's been waiting for Arthur to come back, all these years he's been in love with someone who was dead and gone from the whole world for millions of years. All these years he thought he had a chance when he came back. 

All these years he's been wrong.

He puts his face in his hands and lets out a loud sob- loud enough to worry the dragon. 

He wipes his cheeks but then realizes it's pointless because he just keeps crying. 

Imagine loving someone for years and years but when they finally give you the time of day, it's because they have no choice. Not because they feel the same. 

Because they have no other place to go. 

Arthur has no other place to go. He's stuck with Merlin. 

Sure they kissed but he guesses that was just for Arthur's amusement. Merlin gives a watery, bitter chuckle. 

He was being played. Imagine that. 

And here he thought Arthur changed. He was oh so wrong and he paid the consequences. 

He climbs off the ground feeling empty and broken. He makes his way over to his bed and flops down on it and ignores the pain in his body and focuses on the pain in his chest where his heart should have stopped beating millions of years ago and how empty it feels.

Maybe he's not suppose to be here. Maybe he was only to bring Arthur back and get him on the right path then leave. 

Merlin looks down at the small dragon who's followed him to his bed and is looking at him with her own sad eyes, mirroring his. 

"I'm sorry." He whispers to know one but himself. He lays down and rests his head on his pillow as more tears come and land on his pillow. He closes his eyes but the tears just keep coming no matter what he does so he just lets them flow. 

In the other other room, Arthur isn't much better. 

He's pacing back and forth with a hard glare set on his face and he winces with almost every step but ignores it and focuses on his heart and how it feels like it's going to explode it's so full. 

Merlin couldn't have meant it. But it felt like he had. Arthur had to get away before he did or said something he was going to regret later on. 

He knows it was bad to just leave Merlin like that and he's ignoring the fact he saw Merlin's eyes swell with tears. 

He sits down on a bin he found and puts his head in his hands and runs his hands through his tears. 

Istillloveyouistillloveyouistillloveyou.

The words are like a broken record playing on repeat in his mind and in his heart. 

After everything, Merlin still loves him. Even after Arthur always threw him in the stocks, and made him clean everything he could possibly think of back in Camelot just to spend more time with him without Merlin noticing. 

Arthur sucks on his bottom lip and frowns.

How long will the love last though? Merlin has grown up and adapted to everything and Arthur hasn't. Will he eventually grow out of loving Arthur? 

Sure he's loved him for millions of years but now that Arthur is back will Merlin keep loving him like he used to? 

He feels tears well up in his eyes as he replays the scene in the kitchen and realizes how much of an ass he seemed to be. 

Who would just leave someone after they were told they were loved by said person? 

Arthur just couldn't believe it. A sliver of him thought Merlin was joking and just making fun of him but the other part of him felt like it was on fire with the words out of Merlin's mouth. He clearly doesn't know how to handle being told he's loved by someone, almost certainly not by Merlin. 

Merlin can't actually love him, right? Everyone who loves him leaves him or betrays his trust in some way. But Merlin wouldn't do that. 

He shakes his head and groans. 

He probably just fucked everything up. 

He jumps up and off the bin and rushes out the door and back down the hall towards his and Merlin's shared room and hesitates with his hand just above the door knob. 

What's he going to say to him? 

I'm sorry for storming out like that? 

I thought you were joking?

None of those are good at all. 

He drops his hand, turns around and slides down the door with his back leaning against it. He remembers how Merlin did this for him more than once. 

He hears feet approach him and he looks to his right to see Holly frowning at him and she walks past him shaking her head going down stairs in her work uniform. 

He sighs and leans his head against the wooden door. He doesn't hear anything from the other side other than the occasional sniffle that's so faint Arthur thought he was imagining it at first. 

He frowns even more once he realizes it's Merlin sniffling. 

He probably cried. Arthur feels like his heart has been ripped out and stomped on. 

He's crying and it's all his fault. 

He looks down at his hands and lets his own eyes fill with tears.

"God I'm an ass." He mumbles to himself and then feels like crap because why should he be crying? He's the one who hurt Merlin, not the other way around.

He closes his eyes and lets out a breath of air. 

He's not sure what happened but he's positive he fell sleep because when he glances down the stairs he can see that it's bright outside. Must be around noon or after.

He frowns as he turns his head to listen, to see what's going on on the other side of the wooden door. The one thing separating himself from someone he cares so deeply about and has hurt so much. 

He hears nothing. His frown deepens. How long has Merlin been in there? He closes his eyes and goes to lean against the door again when it opens, making Arthur almost fall but he catches himself before doing so. 

He looks up to see a blotchy looking Merlin who looks pale as ever but with blotchy spots. He sees Arthur and frowns even more than he was when he opened the door. 

"What are you doing?" Merlin asks in a quiet voice that sound rough- probably from all the crying Arthur caused him to do. 

Arthur doesn't like the thought of being the cause of Merlin's tears and pain. 

He gets up off the ground fast and clumsy, his eyes never leaving Merlin's. "I didn't want you to be alone. I know you've done this for me countless of times." He says and Merlin doesn't move. He just keeps frowning. 

"Yes, because one of those times your father died. My father didn't die- not anytime that's in this century anyway. I was crying because-" he stops short and lets out a watery breath. He looks at the ground and shakes his head. "Never mind. I'm going to see if I can find Holly, if she's left for work yet or not." He mumbles and Arthur can't let him go like this. 

He gently grabs ahold of Merlin's sleeve making him halt in his step. His gaze goes to where Arthur is holding him then up to the eyes of the king. "What?" He snaps which causes Arthur to flinch. 

"I wanted to tell you I'm sorry." He says and Merlin scoffs shaking his head looking down the stairs. 

He looks back at Arthur with tears in his eyes and a hard glare set. "Sorry? That's all you have to say? That you're sorry?" Merlin rips his arm from Arthur's grip and starts making his way towards the stairs again. 

"Well what else am I suppose to say Merlin?!" Arthur yells after him throwing his hands up. Merlin turns around with wide eyes that don't look happy at all.

"How about that you feel bad? Or tell me what you're sorry for? Let me know you actually mean it Arthur." Merlin yells back walking back to Arthur. "You hurt me and you don't even seem to care." Merlin shouts at Arthur who is beat red. He glares right back at Merlin. 

"You don't think I care?" He scowls. "Of course I care you idiot! Why do you think I don't care?! How do I get it through that thick head of yours Merlin?!" Arthur shouts back but Merlin stands his ground even if they both have tears running down there cheeks and down there necks. 

"I tell you how I honestly feel and you just storm out- not even considering how it'll effect me! That's a stupid ass move!" Merlin yells and Arthur now has the confirmation on how Merlin feels about him. 

Arthur feels his heart beat so fast he was sure it was going to burst from his chest any second if he didn't slow it down. He feels his hands get sweaty and his whole body heat up at the thought of Merlin saying the words "I love you" to him and meaning them. Hearing him say those everyday and all day is what he has always longed for but could never tell a soul.

Never tell a soul in Camelot. They are not in Camelot. Hence why Merlin is yelling back at the king. 

"Unbelievable." Merlin says shaking his head. "You don't even have anything to say now. Why do I even bother trying?" He sniffles and crosses his arms turning away from him. 

Arthur thinks he's trying to look all tough but both know that he's not. Unless you bring his magic into count. 

Then that's just cheating. And terrifying. 

"Just leave me alone Arthur." Merlin snaps Arthur back to earth as Merlin turns back around and continues to make his way towards the stair case and down it, heading for the door that would lead Merlin away from the house and away from Arthur for who knows how long. 

"Merlin don't go! Wait, stop!" Arthur yells taking a few steps towards Merlin who just keeps walking down the stairs not even looking back at the blonde king, who is losing his mind because he feels like he's losing Merlin, after he just got him back. 

"Why the hell should I stop? So you can keep being rude to me? No thanks. My heart has had enough torment for one day." Merlin sneers over his shoulder as he reaches the bottom step. 

"Because I love you!" 

Merlin freezes with his hand reaching for the door handle and Arthur clamps a hand over his mouth and he's never been so happy that Holly is gone to work. 

Merlin turns around slowly to lock eyes with Arthur. "What?" He says so quietly.

Arthur clears his throat. "I said I love you." He says more solidly and Merlin gets more tears to his eyes and Arthur starts panicking, thinking he messed up again.

It wouldn't be the first time.

Arthur can't help it. He closes the space between them in only three long strides and once he's in front of Merlin on the step just above him, he grabs his face and kisses him like he's going to die if he doesn't, which he thinks could be true. 

Merlin taste like he smells. Minty, and sweet, but with an odd taste of what could only be described as old. But not the bad old, the old that tells you history, stuff you've missed. Things that you're going to wish you saw in person. Old like old stories that he only knows the truth about and has lived them. 

They slowly pull back but Arthur's hands never leaves the sides of Merlin's face, he slowly wipes Merlin's cheek with the pad of his thumb, feeling the dampness that his tears have left behind. 

Merlin swallows loudly. "Do you really mean it? Or are you just saying that?" He asks biting his lip to keep it from trembling. 

"I really mean it.... I'm sorry I'm such a prat." He says and Merlin lets out a watery chuckle and looks down, Arthur's grip loosening but he just trails his hands down Merlin's neck and shoulders instead, feeling his pulse flutter fast against the pad of his right thumb. 

Merlin slowly puts his hands on top of Arthur's and he gives him a small smile that makes Arthur's heart melt. 

"Can you say it to me again?" Merlin asks so quietly that Arthur has to second guess what he was saying. Once he realizes what Merlin requested from him, he smiles and leans his forehead against his. 

"I love you Merlin." He says and Merlin grins, blue eyes meeting blue eyes again. 

Merlin leans in closer and bites his lip. "I love you too Arthur." 

And Arthur swears his chest exploded from the feeling in his heart at that very moment. He was sure hearing those words out of Merlin's mouth will be the death of him one day. His broken heart slowly makes its way back together with a little help from a certain warlock.

They close the gap between them and slowly, but surly mend each other's broken hearts back together.


	14. Why Now?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yes hello, it is I. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, I wrote the first part while babysitting and the last part while stressing about exams... So I apologize if its shit. 
> 
> :) Let me know what you guys think.
> 
> -Ever21

I think he's said this before, but he has never been so glad that Holly has had to work today.

"What do you think of this place?" Merlin asks looking over a page quickly again before he flips it around so Arthur can get a look at it.

Arthur looks up from the book he was reading this morning and looks at the page Merlin shoved in his face. There both on the couch, Merlin laying down and his legs across Arthur's lap. 

He takes the page from Merlin and scans over the details and price of the place and smiles. "I like it a lot actually. Where is it?" He asks handing the page back to the Warlock relaxing across him. 

Merlin grins and eyes the page again. "It's out in the country, far away from people and there's a bunch of woods surrounding it so that'll make it easier for all of us I think." He says and sits up smiling up at Arthur. 

His Arthur.

No one else's.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Arthur asks after a few minutes but smiles back anyway which just causes Merlin to smile even bigger.

Merlin brings his hand up and places it on the kings cheek and leans in kissing his nose before slowly pulling back. "Because you're mine and only mine." He says and then goes back to flipping through the magazine that has all the houses for sale. 

Merlin can see Arthur freeze and then redness takes over and he smiles sheepishly which just makes Merlin laugh. "Stop laughing at me." He says and Merlin shakes his head, continuing to laugh.

His laughter gets cut short by a pair of lips and he chuckles against them and kisses back. Arthur then puts his arms under Merlin's legs that are on him and pulls him closer- not breaking the kiss at any point. Merlin's wraps his arms around Arthur's neck and Arthur's right hand goes around Merlin's torso and the other grips Merlin's pants that are on his thigh. Merlin stops chuckling and just smiles as Arthur kisses him, glad that he's got him back.

He slowly pulls back but not far, just so that he can speak. His eyes meet Arthur's blue ones, he can see so many different emotions his eyes. Love. Passion. Trust. Desire. And if he's correct, that haze that's slowly made its way over Arthur's features is a little bit of lust. "I love you Arthur Pendragon." 

Arthur's smile grows and he grabs the back of Merlin's head and puts his lips back onto the Warlocks who responds just as needy. He runs is hands through the kings hair pulling his face closer and Arthur pushes himself closer to his body. The book and house completely forgotten about.

Arthur barley pulls back, his lips still touching Merlin's. "And I you Merlin." Before his lips are back onto Merlin's who feels his whole body heat up and he knows it's not just from Arthur's words. His hands start to wander and they end up at the bottom of the kings shirt and he tugs it, telling Arthur he wants it off, and off now. 

Arthur grabs Merlin by the hips and lifts him up, moving him onto is lap so he's straddling him, both legs on either side of Arthur and Merlin can tell you he likes this position much more than the other one. Arthur's shirt doesn't get off fast enough according to Merlin because in a blink, the shirt is gone and Merlin's hands have replaced it. 

Arthur makes an approving sound that sends Merlin's blood pumping and not all of it is going to his heart if you get his drift. His thoughts get tugged out when he feels his shirt being tugged on and he grins before pulling back and helping Arthur take his shirt off and his mouth is back on the blondes as his shirt gets thrown somewhere in the room, not that he cares at the moment. (I'm typing this all while babysitting...)

Merlin's lips trail along Arthur's cheek and down to his neck where he starts sucking and Arthur's sounds make him suck harder and he grins as he hears Arthur let out a loud moan. He licks the mark he made before pulling back to meet Arthurs lust filled gaze. 

Only for a moment though before Arthur roughly pushes his mouth against Merlin's while he starts to fiddle around with the button on the front of Merlin's jeans and he feels Arthur smirk as his breath quickens at just the thought of getting them off and out of the way. 

Arthur seems to have the same idea cause he's just as hard as Merlin and he his breath is coming out of his mouth in little pants. 

Arthur finally gets Merlin's fly undone and his pants being slowly pushed down over his hips by the impatient prat when the door bursts open, making Merlin let out a girlish scream and jumps, only causing friction that's now sort of unwanted between him and Arthur. 

"Oh Jesus." Arthur gasps out when Merlin does that and both there eyes dart towards the kitchen where they see a very amused Gwaine leaning against the wall. 

"Well aren't you two a sight for sore eyes." He says and Arthur glares at the said knight. 

"Why are you here?" He asks narrowing his eyes. 

Merlin feels himself get all flustered and embarrassed to be caught in a situation like this. Well this is going swell. He feels his skin begin to heat up and from embarrassment this time and he goes all red.

"You guys didn't show up for your pain medicine but I can see you guys aren't feeling any pain- not from the crash anyway." He smirks walking into the room and dropping a bag on the coffee table. He crosses his arms and looks at the two again before he starts laughing, shaking his head. 

Merlin gets up to move to the chair but a loud snicker makes him look at Gwaine who points down to Merlin's pants, he follows his gaze and his face goes red even more before he quickly does up his pants again and moves even faster but goes to the washroom instead of the chair.   
He goes into the washroom and shuts the door quickly and lets out a big breath he didn't even realize he was holding in. 

He groans and sits down on the toilet seat and puts his head in his hands. "Stupid Gwaine." He mumbles into his hands. Don't get him wrong, he's glad he's back but Gwaine out of all people. Not even someone like maybe Leon? Leon would probably knock first at least.  
He rubs his eyes and looks down at the hardness in his pants and glares at it, willing it to go away. 

But the earth hates him even though he knew this long ago and it stays. He lets out a frustrated noise before crossing his arms over his bare chest and bites his lip looking at the closed door. 

Arthur would probably hate him if he did it.... but then he wouldn't be uncomfortable in his jeans- or just in general at the moment. 

He taps his fingers on his thigh as his eyes drift back to his pants and he figures that it wouldn't hurt. 

Like it is now that is.

He'll just get in the shower. He gets up off the toilet seat and moves fast, wanting to move even faster than he actually can just to get out of his jeans and to get some relief. He turns it on hot and hot water starts spraying down and he bites his lip before quickly pulling off his pants and boxers and his socks. He sighs as the air touches him and he hops in quickly and sighs as the hot water touches his tense shoulders. 

But that's not what needs to be relaxed right now.... 

He glances down and closes his eyes. It's not like he hasn't done this before, millions of times that is, it's just that Arthur and Gwaine are just outside the door and down the hall. 

He will have to quiet about it. 

God have mercy on his soul. 

He swallows a lump in his throat and hesitantly brings his hand down and grabs a hold of himself before letting out a much needed sigh before he starts doing what the whole point of the shower actually is for. 

He leans his forehead against the wall and bites his lip to keep in sounds and he can feel his magic just under his skin, wanting to come forward and do something probably bad and unexplainable. 

The thoughts that fly through his head makes him squeeze his eyes harder and he lets out a low throaty moan, just imagining what Arthur would do if he caught Merlin in such a state, how he would handle it, what he would do to Merlin. The thoughts make him gasp out.

He can feel his stomach turn and get tighter as he starts going faster and he lets out a low moan and just as he feels it's about time, about to explode all over, the door opens making Merlin freeze and tense back up again. 

Oh god no.

He closes his eyes, hoping and praying that it isn't Gwaine. 

He would take Arthur finding him like this over Gwaine. Anyone but Gwaine. 

He hears the smirk. "Hope you're having fun in there." 

Merlin curses whoever is watching over him and wants them dead 1000x. 

"Why are you in here?" He asks trying to gain his breath back he's still achingly hard in his hand while the other is holding up against the wall. 

"Arthur wanted me to make sure you didn't do anything to drastic and thought you were to embarrassed to face us.... clearly he had the wrong impression of his sweet little Merlin." Gwaine says and Merlin wants to smack him back in time. "Arthur is going to be so offended, you know that right? You have fun, I'm gonna go fill him in on what's really happening in here." He laughs before leaving and shuts the door behind him as Merlin's whole body gets even hotter. 

He groans slamming his head against the wall before he starts moving his hand slowly again. 

The door opens again and he can't bring it in himself to care at the moment what Gwaine has to say. 

He closes his eyes and he starts to pick up speed a little and lets out a low groan, not having a care in the world at the moment. 

Gwaine already knows what's going on anyway so whatever. And it's not like Gwaine hasn't done this before, so he can't be one to talk.

That all changes when he feels a hand on his back, moving along his side, making him jump around ready to slap Gwaine to Friday next year. His hand is up and about to touch the face of his intruder but his wrist gets caught before he can make contact and he's pushed up against the wall and his wide eyes flash gold as he makes them switch places and pinning there hands against the wall while Merlin has his hand out, ready to blast whoever it is with his magic. Whatever comes to his head first is what he'll use. 

"I didn't think I could want you anymore than I did before but man was I wrong." 

Merlin's eyes widen and his face relaxes a little when seeing the wide eyes of the cherished king. 

"Arthur," he breaths out letting his magic let Arthur go. "You scared the bloody hell out of me." He says backing up a step.

Arthur lowers his hands and they automatically go to Merlin's waist. He pulls him closer and one of his hands goes up to cup Merlin's face in his hand. "Sorry. I had to come and see what Gwaine was telling me- wondering if what he was saying was true or just him being Gwaine and being an ass." He says shrugging and Merlin chuckles placing his hands on Arthur's chest. 

Arthur's eyes stray from Merlin's face and go down his body and then back up to his face which he can tell you is all hot and flustered and if not a tad insecure. 

"Clearly he wasn't lying." He says and brings his face towards Merlin who gladly kisses him back, anything to distract him from being embarrassed and his hard on. "You're very pretty, you know?"

Merlin lets out a shy smile. He slowly gets pulled against Arthur and he shutters at the feel of Arthur body flushed against his. They've never actually been naked at the same time together. Flesh against flesh.

Yeah Merlin has seen him naked countless of times before back in Camelot but that was different. 

This is different. 

Arthur's hands travel down Merlin's sides as he backs him up against the wall directly under the stream of water and he grabs under his thighs talking him to jump the best he can and Merlin jumps- not letting in he used some magic to help balance himself. No he would never admit that. 

Arthur presses Merlin more into the wall and his lips trail down the side of Merlin's neck where he sucks and Merlin's hands go straight to his wet hair tugging on it lightly. 

They both groan at the feeling of both of them touching and Merlin can feel his magic coming back up to the service, right under his skin, ready to burst out and use at Merlin's command. 

The whole bathroom is full of steam and neither seem to actually care at all. Just at the pleasure of getting each other off is all there feeling. Moans flood out of Merlin's mouth and Arthur's. 

After what feels like forever but not at the same time they both finally get the release they both have been wanting since before Gwaine interrupted them. 

They both are breathing heavily and kissing sloppily while coming down from both of there highs. 

Merlin's arms dropped around Arthur's broad shoulders while Arthur's arms are wrapped around Merlin's middle. 

"We should get out," Arthur says between kisses. "You're starting to get all pruny and then you really will look like your age." He chuckles while Merlin tugs his hair only causing him to laugh even more but he leans down kissing Merlin's shoulder.

"Prat." 

"A prat that you love." 

Merlin rolls his eyes as he shuts the water off and steps out, grabbing a towel and running it over his body to dry off. He grabs a spare one hanging up and hands it to Arthur who does the same and Merlin brings his up to his hair, drying it the best he can. 

He pulls the towel off and Arthur lets out a chuckle which makes Merlin give him a confused look will Merlin wipes away the fog from the mirror and joins Arthur's chuckling at the sight of his messy curly hair everywhere. 

They dry off and make there way to the bedroom with the towels wrapped around there waists. 

"Did Gwaine leave?" Merlin asks and he looks over his shoulder to see Arthur nod his head. 

"Yeah when I told him I was coming to check to see if he told me was true or not he then took it upon himself to leave, thank god." He tells Merlin who just shakes his head. 

They come to there room and Merlin gets out some of his clothes and Arthur's. 

"What do you want for super?" Merlin asks pulling on a pair of jogging pants and a loose shirt. 

Arthur does the same thing. "Doesn't mater to me, I'm not to sure in all the food here yet Merlin." He says and Merlin frowns a little.  
"Oh right. Sorry." He mumbles before throwing his towel in the laundry basket and heads down the stairs to find some food. Wow does he feel stupid, like a right idiot. How could he have forgotten that Arthur was a king and not even close to the timeline there in now. 

His frown deepens as he enters the kitchen, glancing at the little dragon who has followed him from her place in the living room. Feeling her masters distress, she followed.

He opens the freezer in search of something that will satisfy both the hungry lads in the house. He finds a frozen pizza and takes it out, not really caring anymore. 

He hears shuffling behind him and he knows its not Lilith. "Merlin?" he hears Arthur say. "Are you alright?" He asks and it takes everything in him to not turn around and spill all his worries to him. But somethings are just meant to be kept to himself. Like these worries and self doubt.  

He takes the pizza out of the box and responds to Arthur without taking his eyes off the cold pizza in front of him. "Yes, I'm fine. No need to worry about me." He babbles and mentally curses himself for it.

He finishes taking the pizza out and places it on a tray and plops it in the oven, he turns the right temperature on and sets the timer on it. He pours water into his mug and adds a tea bag to it, letting it sit for a second before Merlin uses his magic to heat up the cup a little. He then turns around to face the king, cup in hand.

"Merlin? What's really on your mind?" He asks sounding worried and that makes Merlin frown even more. "You know you can tell me anything." He continues.

Merlin sighs and leans against the counter. He thinks back to his time in Camelot, that was such a long time ago, the memories are all mostly still there though. The way Gwen smiled at people, the way Leon was always respectful to everyone including Merlin, or even Lancelot's friendship in general. Then he thinks of his and Arthur's last moments together and what the Great Dragon has said to him, that little spark that's never left Merlin, kept him waiting and being even a little hopeful over the past millennia.

"He will rise again." Is basically what the giant lizard had said to him. Those few words has kept Merlin going for as long as he needs to.  
Then he remembers the other part.

"When he is needed most." Does that mean-?

His eyes widen and he drops his fresh cup of tea on the floor, causing it to shatter and the conents to be splashed everywhere. 

Oh no.

Oh no.

Why? Why did Arthur now rise?

He jumps over the mess, knowing he'll clean it up later and rushes to the living room, pushing Arthur aside for a minute or two and grabs his lap top off the table before signing in as fast as he can and goes to google and opens the tab for weather and then he turns the tv on to the new channel.

"Merlin in what gods name are you doing?" Arthur asks throwing his hands confused as to what his farmer manservant is doing and why there is a giant screen. He's not even going to ask about that right now. Merlin ignores him and he almost feels at ease, Merlin ignoring him is something that hasn't changed he can see. 

He seems at ease but he can't say the same thing about Merlin.

Merlin skims through the websites fast and looks up at the tv every once in a while. Nothing seems to be happening.... 

Nothing big that Merlin can see anyway...

Maybe Kilgharrah was wrong, even though he has been right about everything else in the past... So there is a small chance that Merlin is right and the old dragon was wrong but Merlin can bet Arthur's life that the dragon was correct, that's just how sure he is about Kilgharrah's words. 

But what is the real question. What is going to happen that's so bad that caused Arthur to come back?

Why now?


	16. An Adventure.... Sort of?

"So later we can go and look at that house you showed me earlier if you want to." Arthur says and Merlin looks up from his phone and smiles. Arthur grins small. "I wrote down the number and the address of the place for you, you know before you closed it and you forgot to save." He says chuckling and Merlin can't help but feel his cheeks heat up from the pure adoration he feels for the blonde idiot. Why is he so precious?

Merlin put the horrible thought to the back of his mind about why Arthur is back and just wants to focus on the now. "That's actually really nice of you.... Arthur? Are you feeling well?" Merlin asks and Arthur shoots him a glare which Merlin just grins back a cheeky smile.

Arthur's eyes go back to the book he has in hands. "At least you being annoying hasn't changed." He mumbles and Merlin chuckles hearing him. 

The door opens and they hear a loud groan. "I hate my life." 

They both share a look and both there gazes to the blonde girl who's in the walkway with her arms crossed and her work uniform all dirty and messed up. A hard glare set on her face. "I'll say it again; I hate my life." She storms past them and up the stairs grumbling under her breath doing so. 

"She thinks she has it bad?" Merlin says under his breath and Arthur snorts, eyes not leaving the book.

Merlin shakes his head at his friend wondering what's got her all grumpy all of a sudden? He frowns and looks back at his phone at the house he's been staring at for the past hour, debating to call or not. 

He pushes the call button and gets up off the couch, getting a confused look from Arthur. Merlin just holds up a finger and walks up to there room, ignoring how Holly has music loud in her room. 

He goes in and locks the door behind him. "Hello?" A women's voice comes threw after a few rings.

"Yes hello, I'm calling about the house you have for sale? The one away from basically any civilization in the country?" He says smiling and praying the women knows to take a joke and has the house for sale still. 

Luck is on his side cause the lady laughs lightly. "Yes I know exactly what you're talking about. Are you interested in it?" 

Merlin breaks out into a giant grin. "Oh yes. Is it possible to come and look at it?" 

"Of course! Is tomorrow okay for you?" She asks and Merlin nods his head, then stood realizing she can't see him.

"I'll make it work if not. What time?" He asks taking a seat on the edge of the bed, phone close up to his ear. 

"How about 1 tomorrow?" She asks. 

Merlin grins. "That sounds amazing. Thank you so much." He says.

"No problem, I'll see you tomorrow." She says. They say there goodbyes and Merlin's smile never leaves his face. He puts his phone in his pocket as he practically skips out of the room bumping into Holly. 

He blinks as he grabs her arm to stop both of them from falling in there ass in the hallway. "Oh shit, sorry Holly." He says chuckling and she chuckles.

"No worries. Who was that on the phone?" She asks tilting her head and leaning against the wall.

"Oh that was a real estate lady. Tomorrow we're going to look at house, do you work?" Merlin asks and she frowns. 

"House? Are you moving?" She asks and slowly crosses her arms as a frown turns into a sour look. 

"Me? Holly last I checked you kind of lived with me..." He says trying to figure out why she's frowning...

She tilts her head from one side to the other a few times before shrugging. "Well I guess you're not wrong. And I haven't unpacked like anything so." She says and Merlin smiles. 

"Does Arthur know?" She asks after a few moments. 

"Yeah he's the one who saved the number and stuff for me to call." He explains. "We're going tomorrow at 1 and I hope you don't have to work, if you do then I'll FaceTime you and we can all talk that way if not face to face." He says and Holly nods her head. 

"Last I checked I didn't have to work, I'll double check though." She says turning around and going down the hall to where her room is. 

Merlin goes down stairs and sees Arthur reading yet another book. "What are you even reading and where are you getting all these random books from?" Merlin asks as he walks over to Arthur who looks up. 

"I'm not to sure." He says closing the book but not before putting a random piece of paper as a bookmark. "I just kind of found it buried in dust in a box in the basement." He shrugs and Merlin gets even more confused. Those boxes will be the death of him. 

"I don't recognize it?" Merlin says shaking his head and sits beside Arthur. 

"Yeah it's......weird, I don't understand it. Like at all. Like I'm not to sure it's even English if I'm being honest." He says and hands the book over to Merlin who takes it and opens it. 

His eyes widen as he flips from one page to another. "Do you know what you've been reading this whole time?" Arthur shakes his head. "This is one of Gaius's old books, one full of spells he used to use- one he gave me to use but I never got around to this one, that's why I didn't recognize it at first." He says and he can feel his heart twinge at the thought of the old physician and friend.  

The father figure in his life.

"Merlin?" Merlin jumps a little when he feels a hand on his shoulder. He looks up from the book up to the worried blue eyes of Arthur. "Are you alright?" A twinge of worry in his voice and blue eyes full of concern for the young looking warlock. 

"Yeah. I'm fine, just you know..... Thinking." He says and Arthur nods his head. "Anyway, I called and chatted with a lady about the house. We're going tomorrow at 1." He says and Arthur grins while nodding his head. 

"Good. The sooner we can get out of the city the better. Lilith is growing faster then I thought she would." Arthur says and nods his head towards the dragon who is laying on the floor sleeping in a throw blanket that's almost to big for her whole body. She now is the size of a medium size dog. 

Merlin frowns. "Yeah I know. So hopefully tomorrow we can look around and buy the house." He says and Arthur nods his head and then leans back against the couch and Merlin follows. 

He looks back at the thick book in his hands and flips it open to a random page. "I wondered what happened to these books... Are there anymore?" He asks looking up at the king. 

Arthur smiles down at him. "Maybe, I didn't really look." He says and leans down to kiss Merlin. 

"Can you guys not make out for like two seconds oh and Merlin I don't have to work tomorrow." Holly says chuckling, and takes her seat in the chair she has claimed as her own. "This is the one time where I'd like it if you didn't make out and come up for some air for a little bit. Let's go do something, like let's go on an adventure. Well for Arthur it would be." She says. 

"Alright," Merlin says. "Like what? What did you have in mind?" He asks and then the smile slips away as soon as he sees the smirk. "Holly the answer is no."

"Oh come on, it's still kind of early out. Only like 2:30." She says and Merlin sighs. 

Arthur frowns looking confused. Oh poor Arthur.

"Let's go do shit. Like we could, oh I got it! We should take Arthur to the museum!" She says leaning forward so her hands are glued to her knees.

"Holly that's an awful idea- wait. Did you say Museum?" He starts off but changes directions once he realizes what she says. "Um I'm not sure how well that will go over..." He bites his lip looking over at Arthur who just looks confused and more than a little lost.

"Yeah sorry to interrupt whatever creepy thing you guys are doing and talking about, but can someone fill me in on what the hell a museum is." Arthur says crossing his arms and raising his eyebrows the way he always did when Merlin did something stupid. So like always. 

"Well your highness, you just have to wait." Holly says and goes back upstairs to get whatever it is she needs. Arthur turns to look at Merlin who just shrugs and walks into the kitchen leaving Arthur to think of what torturous thing Holly has suggested this time around. Last time they did what she wanted to do they ended up in the hospital. But they did get Gwaine back so that was a plus.

"Prat! Are you coming? Let's go slow poke!" Merlin shouts from the kitchen breaking Arthur from his train of thoughts. He frowns and as he gets up from the couch, a pair of socks fall from his lap. He bends down and picks them up and puts them on not even questioning where they came from. 

He's learned not to ask questions like that.

Then he gets up and follows Merlin's voice into the kitchen. He sees Holly is with him as well and was wondering how long he's been spaced out for... he gets on his stuff and and the frown and confusion never leave his face. 

"So where are we going?" Arthur finally asks and Holly chuckles leaving the house and Merlin just sighs shaking his head at Arthur's confused face. 

"Just go with it." Merlin says and grabs Arthur's hand in his gloved one. 

"Alright but if I end up in the hospital again I'm swear to god I will find another way to to punish you if I can't put you in the stocks." Arthur says and Merlin just grins. 

"Yeah but you said it yourself, you love me. So if you truly loved me then you wouldn't do that to me." Merlin says raising his eyebrows and Arthur can't help but laugh. 

"Merlin, just because I told you I love you doesn't mean I wouldn't have thrown you in the stocks back in Camelot." He says smirking as Merlin raises his eyebrows higher if that's possible. "I just wouldn't have left you out there for as long. Maybe." Arthur says walking out the door with Merlin in tow now. 

That tables have switched. Who's in lead now? Not Merlin. 

But then again Merlin knows the way. And where there going. That stops Arthur in his tracks and he glares at Merlin who for some reason realized what Arthur thought of and grins. 

Now Merlin is pulling Arthur towards the rental car. 

Holly's car is being fixed up in the shop so they have to deal with this..... mini van? If he heard Merlin properly explain the car to Holly who was not a all impressed with the choice of car.

"I feel like a fricken soccer mom." Holly mumbles from the drivers seat. 

"Um Holly? Maybe I should drive this time..." Merlin says and Holly opens then closes her mouth in a fish like fashion. 

She sighs. "Fine." 

Arthur coughs. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, I've seen Merlin try to ride a horse so I'm going to take it that his driving as you call it isn't going to be much better than the horse."

"What the hell do you mean? I was great on a horse, you just didn't know because you were to busy being a royal prat and looking for something to kill most of the time like a poor rabbit or deer." Merlin sasses back and Arthur laughs but what Merlin doesn't know is that Arthur was paying attention for listening to animals but if he's being honest, he was paying more attention to Merlin when he wasn't looking... keeping an eye on him he would have said back then, to make sure he didn't do anything stupid or fall into a hole or group of bandits. Merlin would have probably fallen on someone's sword. But now he can say he's just watching Merlin because he wants to. Because Merlin is very good to look at. With his black hair that when gets long, curls around his to big ears and his lovely smile which Arthur can now kiss whenever he feels like it. 

"Hello? Earth to King Arthur?" 

Arthur blinks and comes to see blue eyes right in his line of vision. "Huh?" 

Merlin gives Arthur one of those smiles that makes his heart beat pick up speed and his insides turn to mush. It was the same back in Camelot- he just couldn't act on it like he can now. 

"I've told you not to think to hard, you'll hurt yourself." Merlin says and before he can start to laugh, Arthur leans forward and catches Merlin's lips with his, something he's wished to do back in his chambers more than he'd like to admit. 

Merlin makes a little surprised noise but kisses back nonetheless. Arthur pulls back a little. "What uh, what was that for?" Merlin asks a little breathless and stunned. 

Arthur's eyes go back to looking at Merlin's mouth then back up to his eyes. "Trying to make up for all the times I couldn't kiss you when I wanted to back in my chambers or even in the court yard. Anywhere really." He says and Merlin turns 100 shades of red and pink but he gives Arthur another smile and he pecks his forehead before Merlin's switches spots with Holly (not before helping Arthur with the seatbelt of course). 

They drive a little before Holly leans forward and pushes something and sound surrounds Arthur- who tenses up and looks around wildly before his eyes land back to the front to see Merlin biting his lip and glancing between Arthur and the road in the review mirror. 

Arthur let's out a breath. "Where's the sound coming from?" He asks and Holly chuckles and Merlin shoots her a sideways glare but his eyes go back to the blonde in the backseat who feels confused and a little upset that he's left out even though it's not his fault at all. Merlin pushes the button again and the sound stops.

"Well Arthur," Merlin clears his throat. "Do you remember when we had people come from other kingdoms to play instruments at feasts and at your birthdays and other stupid get togethers?" He asks and Arthur can't help but wonder why Merlin is bringing these times up now.

"Well yes." 

"Right well, music has um evolved. Since then." He starts and Arthur is just confused. Because there isn't anyone playing music in the car, he would know.

"Merlin are you alright? Are you suggesting that the sound I just heard was music? Merlin I would know if someone was playing an instrument in the car..." He chuckles shaking his head and he can see Merlin trying not to smile but failing at it. 

"Like I said," He chuckles. "It evolved. So now we can hear music anywhere and we don't have to have people play it for us live- I mean lots of people do and it's a lot of fun." He says grinning. "Not that back then wasn't fun cause I just loved serving lords who couldn't care less about others and drink wine for all hours of the night." 

Arthur can hear some bitterness and edge in Merlin's tone of voice and he feels guilty from all those times he made Merlin stay up with him and serve others. But he just wanted to spend more time with Merlin without causing a scene. 

So being an ass was the only way. 

"As I was saying Arthur," Merlin pushes a smile that looks a little to forced to Arthur. "Music is different, it's not just instruments there's actual singing, I mean lady Helen was really good- so I've heard. We never actually got to hear her sing now that I think about it." Merlin goes off and Arthur can't help but agree with the lady Helen part. 

"So that sound coming from- the car? Is music?" He asks confused and Holly chuckles while Merlin rolls his eyes. He smiles back at Arthur threw the mirror. 

"Yes. Listen." He says before pushing the button again and turns something so when the music comes out it's not as loud as before. 

"What's this song called?" Arthur asks after listening to it for a few seconds. 

Merlin grins back at him. "It's called No Promises." His eyes go back to the road as they make a left turn and start into town. 

Arthur smiles. "Who's singing it?" 

"My little Canadian Shawn Mendes." Holly says turning around in her seat, giving Arthur a cheeky smile. 

"Who? Canadian? What?" Now Arthur is even more confused than he was to begin with. What's a Canadian Shawn Mendes? 

Merlin laughs and Holly smiles. "What she means to say is that the singer is a guy named Shawn Mendes. The Canadian part is where he's from." Merlin explains and Arthur nods his head like he actually understands what Merlin is talking about. 

He leans back and listens to this Shawn Mendes guy and watches out the window as they come to a stop, turning right into a place Merlin called the parking lot. 

Merlin turns the car off and they all hop out, Merlin giving Arthur a lingering touch on the arm and a giant smile for getting out of the car without needing Merlin's help with the seatbelt or anything.

He looks down as his cheeks heat up and grins as he stuffs his hands into his jean pockets. 

He follows Merlin and Holly who are silent as they walk towards a huge building, so big that Arthur has to stop and crane his neck up to see the top of the building, he brings his hands up to shield his eyes from the sun so he can look. 

"Arthur? You coming?" He hears Merlin ask and he looks back to the two to find them giving him confused looks. 

Arthur smiles. "It's a big building." He shrugs and Merlin chuckles and bites his lip before slowly grabbing Arthur's right hand. Arthur looks down at there hands and thinks that they fit together so well. 

He gives Merlin's hand a squeeze and Merlin beams at him before doing the same thing back. They walk the rest of the way holding hands and squeezing every once in a while.

They go into the building and Merlin gets out money and pays for him and Arthur while Holly pays her own way in. The guy puts something on there hand.

"What's on my hand?" Arthur asks looking down at the hand that's not holding Merlin's where a little building in black ink is on. 

"It's called a stamp. It's to let others know you've actually paid to come in instead of just sneaking in. Like I do sometimes." He says casually.

Holly comes over to them rolling her eyes. "Yes say it louder Merlin, I didn't think the security upstairs heard you." And Merlin just grins. 

He shrugs. "What can they do to me that I haven't done to myself before? Throw me in jail? Not like I can actually die from getting to hurt or upset." He says laughing and Holly shakes her head and walks a head of them but still smiles. 

Arthur feels a twist in his gut as he looks at Merlin. He's seen Merlin's body before but he never actually took time to notice any scars on his body. And Merlin is covered really well right now so he can't exactly look.

"Hey, you alright?" He asks and Arthur nods his head and blinks a few times, ignoring Merlin's confused look. 

"I'm alright. So where are we anyway? You guys never actually told me." He says changing the topic. 

Merlin gives him a weird look but goes with it anyway. Arthur can tell Merlin will keep thinking about this till he's figured it out. No doubt Merlin will have figured it out by the end of the day. 

"We are in what is called a museum." Merlin says walking forward to see what Holly is looking at. "It's a bunch of old shit in one building really." He says and Arthur smirks at Merlin. 

"So you fit in very well then." 

Merlin hits Arthur on the head and Arthur just laughs. 

"Can you guys like not kill each other right now? They've added new sections." Holly says grinning and skips ahead of them. Her blonde hair in a messy ponytail and her trench coats not done up and flapping open as she skips. Merlin shakes his head. 

"No but like what do you mean a bunch of old shit?" Arthur asks again. 

Merlin looks at a painting randomly and Arthur tilts his head a little to try and see what Merlin is so keen at looking at. "Everything in this building is old. Like super old. Like me old. Okay not me old, but almost as old as me." He says and Arthur doesn't understand why people would pay to see old stuff?

"Why would people pay to see stuff like this? It's just stuff that's old?" He voices his questions and Merlin shrugs. 

"I'm not sure. I mean I've seen all this stuff a bunch of times already. Hell I've lived through 98% of it." He chuckles and Arthur gives him a smile before leaning down and pecking Merlin on the head. He watches as Merlin blushes and looks down. 

"Come on guys, were burning daylight." Holly says before grabbing both there hands and pulls them to the stairs to the upper part of the building. All the bottom floor is just statues of people who Arthur doesn't know and Merlin doesn't have the energy of explaining everything to Arthur at the moment. Another day he'll explain everything to Arthur. 

Some day.

They follow Holly around and Merlin points out the stuff he finds are cool and that are worth talking about. Of course Arthur is confused as all hell but that's why he asks questions and Merlin explains from his own point of view and not what some paper says. He listens to every word Merlin says because it's part of Merlin's life that Arthur didn't get to see or hear about. This is a part of Merlin that Arthur missed out on and he'll be damned if he's missing it again.

"Hey guys," Holly asks sounding a little weird from a few feet up ahead of them. "I think I found what was new about the additions..." She says and bites her lips as Merlin and Arthur walk towards her confused. 

"What are you talking abou- oh." Merlin says and goes quiet once he sees what Holly was talking about.

There's a sign that says "Welcome to Camelot." And Arthur feels his stomach tighten and Merlin looks like he feels the same. 

"Well." Merlin says a little breathless. "This is most certainly new."

He turns to look at Arthur. "We don't have to look if you don't want to." He says and people around them give them weird looks as they hear Merlin's words.

Before Arthur can answer a guy comes over wearing a uniform that indicates he works here. "Hello, welcome to Camelot." He says chuckling and grins while Merlin makes a small sound that resembles a small whimper. Arthur swallows. 

"Hey man, when did this get added?" Holly swoops in and saves them, sensing there uneasiness. 

He smiles turning his attention to her. "A couple of weeks ago-it was a surprise." He grins like he's proud. 

"Oh trust me, it's a surprise alright." Merlin says and looks a little pale- more so than usual. "Um what's the thing in there that gets the most attention?" He asks before he can stop himself. 

He's curious. Sue him. 

Arthur gives him a looks but then goes with Merlin as him and Holly follow the guy. 

"Well I'm glad you asked," He starts off and he feels Merlin tense as they walk into the giant ass room. 

All around them are things from Camelot. Down to Arthur's bedsheets that both he and Merlin recognize immediately. Merlin because he's washed them so many bloody times. 

"They have the blankets from the royal chambers?" Arthur asks before stoping himself and Merlin looks just as confused as he is. "Why?"

"Those were King Arthur's bedsheets if you're wondering." The guy says. They both jump a little because honestly they forgot he was with them. 

"I know." Merlin says. I've seen these sheets every single day when I was in Camelot.

The guy gives him a weird look but Merlin ignores it. The Merlin way of doing things. 

Arthur snorts a little. Glad to see that hasn't changed.

"As I was saying- the main attraction is King Arthur's sword, Excalibur." Both boys snap there head up when the name is mentioned. Holly comes over confused. 

"Where?" Arthur asks sounding all king like and Merlin grins at the tone. 

The guy looks taken back for a second but composed himself quickly and leads them to a stand where a sword lays. 

Holly, Arthur and Merlin don't take there eyes from it. 

"It's so pretty." Holly says and Merlin snorts. 

He leans in closer to Holly and whispers. "Yeah but the real one is even prettier." 

Holly gasps and pulls back. "What do you mean?"

Merlin gives her a looks like 'are you serious?'. "You really think I would leave the sword in the lake after all these years?" He asks sounding offended. 

She puts her hands up and chuckles. "Hey I didn't know. I thought it wasn't even close to here in all honesty." She says shrugging and going back to looking at the fake sword. "It is pretty though."

Merlin crosses his arms. "You try sharpening it for years and tell me how pretty you think it is then." 

Holly sticks her tongue out. Merlin does the same back at her. Arthur shakes his head and rubs his face with his hands. 

"Anything else you'd like me to show you?" The guy asks sounding way more confused than before. He probably heard there conversation. If Arthur were an outsider he'd be confused as well if he heard what they were talking about.

"No thanks." Holly says and the guy nods his head before walking away. Holly walks away and goes to look at something while Arthur and Merlin stand by the fake Excalibur. "Hey uh guys? How accurate are these photos?"

Merlin and Arthur share a look before walking over to where Holly is looking down at a bunch of photos. 

Arthur is taken back by the photos and how real they look. "Oh my god." He mumbles. 

"Hey Arthur, it's you." Holly says pointing to a picture of Arthur. "And I'm assuming that's Merlin because he never left your side, I mean he doesn't now either but you get what I mean." She says smirking. 

Merlin pushes to get a closer look. "What? I'm not suppose to be in there... why did they put me in this photo? I even remember when it was being done, I wasn't anywhere near you." He says to Arthur who looks a little freaked out by seeing himself in his armour again with the crown on his head. 

His crown.

"Where's my crown?" He asks and Merlin looks away. "Merlin, where is my crown?" He asks and crosses his arms. Merlin looks at him and gives him a small smile. 

"I'm not sure." He says and Arthur rolls his eyes. "Hey it's not like it's my job to watch where it goes. I mean it kind of was when you were king but that's because you were attached to it." He says and mimics Arthur. Arms crossed.

"Well you told me Gwen married again, so that must mean that sir Leon had worn it." Arthur says and Holly watches them with amusement written all over her face. Even though she has no idea who Leon is. 

"True, but I didn't go back. Not really. I couldn't. I just left. Well Percival found me by the water after and tried to get me to go back to Camelot with him but I refused- told him I'd catch up with him and meet him back....." Merlin gets a far away look in his eyes. "I didn't want to go back. But I went back when it was dark out, when the guards were patrolling the grounds and everyone was gone. The guards didn't even spare me a second glance because they were so used to me being there. I went in and magicked everything into boxes and kept them hidden with magic till I found houses to live in. I moved around a lot." He shakes his head slowly and blinks a few times. He swallows and looks up to see the worried faces of Holly and Arthur and about a dozen other people watching him. 

He forces out a smile and shakes his head. He goes back towards the photos and he misses the look Holly and Arthur share behind him. 

He ignores all the stares he's getting from people who think they know him but in reality they don't. Know one really knows Merlin. Sometimes Merlin doesn't even know himself. 

"Hey they got a really nice picture of Gwen." He says and he feels his throat tighten a little. 

Arthur comes over and looks over Merlin's shoulder. He gives a small smile. "She was a very beautiful queen." He says. 

"That she was." A voice says from behind them and they come face to face with Gwaine when they turn around. "Wasn't sure why this was my gut instinct to come here, but I guess I know now." He says shrugging and going to stand beside Holly as he glances down at the photos again. "Aye, she wasn't only a lovely queen but she was a really good friend." 

"Yeah." Merlin says and he sighs. "I really miss all of them." He looks up at Gwaine then back down again at the pictures. "Well everyone except Gwaine." 

He feels a punch in his shoulder and he gives a small chuckle. 

They heard gasps from behind them and they see that part of the room is outlined with yellow tape as there putting up another thing. 

"Great, more stuff to remind me of my past." Arthur says and Merlin chuckles and Holly coughs to cover hers. 

Gwaine just grins.

"What are they even putting up?" Merlin asks no one in particular. 

"It's a giant picture of King Arthur and his father, and Lady Morgana. I believe Guinevere and Arthur's manservant are in there as well. Or so I've heard." A girl says who's standing beside Merlin. 

She has really short blonde hair and glasses. A plain black shirt that has a picture of a pentagram on the front chest pocket and black jeans and boots and a coat on. 

"Are you sure? That sounds very specific." He asks wary of the girl and her random knowledge.

"Listen I just over heard some people talking about it." She says putting her hands up. 

She goes to say something else when another girl grabs her shoulder. "Logan lets go, we're going to be late." She says and drags the girl who's name is Logan apparently off. 

Merlin turns back around when he hears loud gasps and feels Arthur tense beside him. 

He looks up and sure shit. There they all are plain as day. 

Everyone stops to stare at it and Merlin feels Arthur shift awkwardly beside him and he can't help but agree with Arthur's moves. 

Anyone can tell that it's them on the wall. Well they look different but not so much that if people didn't know what they were looking for they wouldn't see it. 

But in a room full of people who's heart is set on King Arthur and Merlin, they'd sure see it. 

"Holy shit." And here we go. "You look just like Merlin, just you have longer hair and a scruff." A dude says and he looks over at Arthur then at Gwaine and his eyes practically pop out of his head. "Holy fuck, you two are literally King Arthur and Sir Gwaine. What the actual hell?" The guy grins and basically yells. People turn to see what the commotion is about and Merlin and Arthur and Gwaine all turn back to look at a case that's holding a piece of paper. Merlin frowns because he doesn't remember this.

He's gone over most of Arthur's work and speeches but he's never seen this one. 

As he reads it he realizes why. 

That's Guinevere's hand writing. It's the law that passed magic to be free in the land. Merlin feels his legs buckle under him and he grabs onto the railing around him to stop himself from falling onto the ground. 

Arthur is beside him in an instant. "Merlin, are you okay? What happened?" He asks looking Merlin over like a concerned mum. 

Well in this case a concerned prat. 

"I'm alright. Arthur I'm fine." He says and grabs Arthur's hand to stop them from seeing if Merlin is hurt anywhere. "I just read that, and it got to me." He says nodding towards the paper he just read. Arthur frowns but goes over and reads it. You can tell he realizes the hand writing immediately because his face pales a little.

He reads it and he quickly sits down beside Merlin and his eyes never leave the ground. 

After a moment he finally looks up at Merlin and Merlin can see the tears in his eyes and Merlin leans forward and presses his lips against Arthur's as his own tears spill and he feels Arthur's join him. 

Merlin throws all his sorrow and pain into that one kiss that it leaves him and Arthur a little breathless when they part. 

"I'm so sorry Merlin." Arthur mumbles with his eyes closed and his forehead against Merlin's. "I should have legalized it when I had the chance."

Merlin shakes his head. "Arthur you have nothing to be sorry about. It's not your fault. Plus she made it legal." He says opening his eyes to see Arthur already staring at him. "You have nothing to be sorry for." He repeats. 

Arthur hesitates then slowly nods his head as if he doesn't fully believe Merlin. Which he doesn't. 

"You guys are so sappy." Holly mumbles but gives them both a gentle smile and hands them both a tissue from god knows where. 

The both take one and wipe there face and blow there nose. 

They both smile at each other and they get up and continue walking around, not even caring that Gwaine disappeared off to some place. If he really wanted to he could probably find Gwaine. 

But Gwaine has a habit of finding them and at the most inconvenient moments as well.

They walk around and see all the random stuff they saved from the castle and what is fake because Merlin has the original of. He has a lot of stuff from Camelot.

"What language is this?" A random person asks themselves looking down at a book that's laid open for people to read. 

Merlin walks over and looks down and noticed that it's old Latin, a very old spell book that Merlin has read from before. Used a few spells here and there. Most people wouldn't even recognize it as being Latin because it's so old. 

"It's Latin," Merlin says before he can stop himself. The guy looks up at him and gives him a confused look. "Old Latin, so old that it probably wouldn't even be considered Latin anymore." He says shrugging and the guy nods his head. He looks back down at the book and Merlin gets a feeling that that's his cue to leave and walk away before he makes it even more awkward. 

He turns to leave again but the guys voice stops him. "Since you know its old Latin, can you read it?" He asks and Merlin turns back around and blinks a few times at the guy then back down at the book. 

He doesn't even know what this spell does. He's never used it before. He goes through it quickly, reading it over and over again in his head to figure out what the hell it does. Then he realizes that it makes things change colour. 

Why the hell would there be a a spell about changing colours? Who would use that? 

Morgana would have used it probably. Gwen maybe. 

But what would he change colour of if he were to say the spell out loud? 

Guess he's going to find out. 

"Well the spell is about changing colours- don't ask why there's a spell to change colours because I have no idea. I know a lot of things but that one stumps even me." He says and the guy snorts. 

Merlin sighs. "Exlamenar fernag re hesko." He says quietly and he curses himself because something changed colour but he doesn't know what yet. 

He felt his magic respond to the spell like he breathes air. It's like getting on a bike after being off for years and knowing all the old tricks and ways of the bike. That's him with saying spells. 

The guy makes a weird sound and Merlin turns around his eyes widen. He holds his breath. "That didn't do anything, I mean I wasn't expecting it to but still kind of bummed that it didn't work." The guy says. He shrugs and turns and walks away, not even glancing back at Merlin. 

Merlin quickly walks over to where Holly and Arthur are looking at clothes from Camelot.

"Merlin wore this same outfit almost everyday. I tried to get him to change it up a little but he refuses to do so. So he always wore his neckerchief and plain trousers and a plain shirt. Same thing." Arthur says and Merlin can't find it in him at the moment to correct Arthur of his pratness. 

"Hey we should go." He says and they give him a confused look. "Like now." He says before walking past them and he hears them scramble to catch up with him. 

They get to the stairs when they hear a scream and shout and lots of cursing and more screaming. Merlin winces but doesn't slow down- if anything he walks even faster. 

"Merlin," Arthur says in a warning tone he's heard oh so many times. "What on earth did you do this time?" 

Merlin bites his lip and slows down coming to a stop in front of them, turning to look at them. "I may have said a spell that changes people's hair colours."

"I'm sorry you what?" Holly says crossing her arms. Merlin sighs. 

"It was sort of an accident...." He mumbles and Holly rolls her eyes and Arthur shakes his head. 

"How can it sort of be an accident when you have to say the words for it to work?" Arthur asks throwing his hands up. 

"Hey I don't always have to say the words." Merlin says defensively. Arthur shakes his head. "And for your information, the guy asked what it said and he found out I could read old Latin and asked me to say the spell so it's all actually his fault and all on him." He shrugs his shoulders and bites his lip looking away from the two. 

"Merlin he didn't know it would actually work. You should have known better." Arthur says frowning. 

Merlin frowns. "I didn't think it'd be that bad. Like I would know it changed hair colours." He snaps. 

No one realizes that a crowd as stopped to see what the argument is about. 

"How could you have not known? You're the one who read it!" Arthur says frowning even more and looking a little pissed. 

"It didn't say anything about hair! And I haven't read Latin in decades! You think you could do better be my guest, go ahead and try." Merlin sneers crossing his arms and glares at Arthur who glares right back. 

"At least if I said it his hair wouldn't be green, because unlike, you I don't have that thing you think is so amazing when really it's just a nonsense and poor excuse for something called magic!" He shouts. The section around them goes quiet and Merlin pales but Arthur isn't done yet. "This is why it was banned and people were arrested for it, because it does nothing but bring pain to others and I hate that it's a part of you." He yells and Merlin flinches. 

The whole place has gone quiet. Merlin feels his heart break and shatter into a million pieces and he hears Holly gasp. 

He sees the moment Arthur realizes what he's said and what's going on. Because he pales and goes to open his mouth but before a sound can even escape Merlin is gone. 

He turns and runs past all the people not caring if they see the tears going down his face or that Arthur just yelled he hated Merlin. 

Arthur may not realize it but when he said he hates the magic part of Merlin, he was saying he hated all of Merlin. 

They've even had this talk before- Merlin even told Arthur that he is literal magic. He was born magic. He is magic. And Arthur hates him.

Merlin doesn't remember the last time he felt this heart broken. Arthur dying was awful but he was dying, Arthur yelling he hates him is almost just as bad or even worse. Because he's alive and Merlin feels like Arthur just grabbed his heart out and held it bare for everyone to see and then crushed it under his boot. 

Merlin sobs as he runs down the sidewalk, not caring where his legs take him. 

Just away from the one person he thought he could trust, who would love him for him and not care. 

Guess he was wrong. 

So very wrong.


	17. A Warlock, His King and His Dragon.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aye okay I know I suck. 
> 
> College is getting to me. Working on updating more in my free time which is almost never but I’m working on it guys. 
> 
> HOW DO YOU LIKE IT SO FAR??

Merlin finds himself on a park bench in the cold, people pass by him not sparing him a glance. He can't find it in himself to even care if anyone sees him. 

He sniffles quietly and keeps him eyes down. He wraps his arms around himself to keep from the chill that's hanging in the air. 

"Um excuse me sir, but are you alright?" A voice asks him and he glances up from under his hair to see a girl who doesn't look any older than him. But from what he knows these days anyone can look however age. Someone could look 12 and actually be 50. Who the hell knows these days.

She blinks at him and he lets out a breath. "Yes. I'm fine. Thank you for asking." He says and she frowns but nods her head. 

"Well do you mind if I sit with you? I'm waiting for someone but it seems she's late, as usual." She says and takes a seat beside him on the bench. He sits up and moves over away from her. 

"Are you waiting for someone?" She asks him as she pulls her hat down more over her ears. 

He opens his mouth to respond how he usually would- yes, I'm always waiting for someone, but he can't say that now. Arthur is here and he's not waiting for him. Not anymore. 

"No," he says biting his lip. "I'm not." 

She starts talking about something that he's not paying attention to and lets his mind wander. 

Why would Arthur say that? Especially when he knows the stuff he knows. He has to have known how it would have effected him. 

He trusted Arthur and here he is, crushing his heart under his foot for all to see. How can he ever face him after that confession? He should have known, even after all that time in the bottom of the lake he still hates magic and that as of now, it seems like that will never change. Merlin can feel his heart break at the thought of seeing Arthur again when he goes home. 

"Chloe? There you are. You ready to go?" A new voice pulls him out of his own mind as he looks up to see a red haired girl looking at -he now knows as Chloe- and then she looks over and gives Merlin a smile but with confusion. "Have we met?" She asks after a moment and Merlin slowly shakes his head, cause he's sure that he hasn't met her anywhere in this life or his other ones.

"Oh, Malory. Hey this here is-" she cuts her self off cause she even now realizes she doesn't know his name. He smiles small and nods at Malory. 

"Merlin." He says. 

She snaps her fingers and points to him. "Ha! I do know you!" She says confusing Chloe and him. She turns to look at Chloe's confused expression and explains. "Not like, know know him just-" she turns back to him and her eyes go from excited to pity and sympathy in a matter of seconds. "You're the guy who ran out of the museum when you and that blond guy argued." 

His eyes widen and he quickly stands up and Chloe quickly follows his actions, looking even more concerned than before. "Um I should- I gotta- I have to go." He stampers and mentally hits himself with a bat. 

He turns to leave and only gets a few steps when he feels a hand on his arm, pulling him to a stop. He could get away if he really wanted to but he's a nice person- even if being nice comes to bite him in the ass later on. 

"Wait, I just want to make sure you're, you know. Okay or not. I mean I get that you won't be okay but- ugh." She groans in frustration which makes Merlin turn around to look at her. "I'm trying to properly word what I wanna say but I can't find the right words to do so. What I'm trying to ask is do you need to talk? Or like a friend to just be around? I don't know what I'm saying cause it's not the message I'm trying to get across here." She says and Chloe just tilts her head looking amused at Malory's words. 

That makes one of us. 

"How did you know who I was?" He asks shoving his hands into his coat pockets. 

She shrugs. "I work there and I basically got a front row ticket to the whole showdown." She bites her lip and looks over at Chloe. "You made plans right?" She directs the question to Chloe who nods her head. 

Malory looks back over to Merlin and lets out a sigh then after a few moments goes, "Well Merlin. I hope everything works out between you and that blond chap." She tells him, placing a hand on his arm. 

He scoffs, ignoring the ache in his chest again at the mentioned of that epic failure. "I highly doubt that. Believe it or not we've been fighting for centuries over this topic." 

"Well for the record, when you ran out of the museum, it was like his heart was leaving with you. All the joy and happiness he had while going through the museum with you seemed to die out." She pulls her scarf closer to her body. "You should talk with him, see what he has to say. You never know, till you talk right?" She says and Chloe nods her head while stepping up beside her and she grabs ahold of Malory's hand, intertwining there gloved fingers together. 

Malory leans over and pecks Chloe on the head. "Trust me. Talking and getting everything out in the open is better than keeping it all bottled up." Chloe tells him before her and Malory walk away, swinging there hands back and forth between the two of them. 

He sighs and rubs his hands together to keep some heat in them. He looks around and notices that it's gotten darker than it was when he first came here. Times are changing which means the weather gets colder and the days get shorter. 

He goes the opposite direction the girls did and heads on his cold walk home. Thinking of different ways that this is going to go down. And that they have to go look at a house together tomorrow. He groans and covers his face at the thought of how awkward that's going to be. 

Then another thought hits him. 

"We left Lilith at home alone. Who thought that was a good idea." He mumbles to himself as he walks even faster towards there flat. 

I wonder if Arthur will be there. 

Oh god. He can just imagine how he's going to react if Lilith made a mess. That poor dragon. 

After a few minutes of walking he comes to the house, but stops in front of the door and frowns. The lights are all off just like they were when he left. So Arthur and Holly aren't home yet. Thank god. 

He gets out his key and unlocks the door before stepping in and shutting it behind him. He flicks on the light switch as Lilith comes rushing from the living room to greet him. He bends down and pets her. She licks his hand and he can feel his heart start to get a little better knowing the dragon is there for him no matter what. 

He slips off his coat and his boots. Placing them both where they belong and his hat comes off after. He shoves his gloves and hat into his coat pocket before going into the kitchen. 

He could go for a hot tea right about now. 

He turns the light on and goes through the cabinets when he realizes he left his big mug in the living room. He goes over to the living room and switches the light on and jumps five feet in the air. 

On the couch curled up in a blue blanket and the most messy hair ever is King Arthur Pendragon. 

The last person wants to see right now. 

Or ever. 

Arthur blinks and looks over at Merlin before jumping up from the couch, the blanket falling off his shoulders to show he's in his jeans and shirt from today. 

"Merlin." He breathes out what sounds like relief. 

Merlin doesn't say anything but he walks in and grabs his cup before turning tail and going back to the kitchen and away from the hot mess standing in the middle of the living room. 

He turns the kettle on and waits for the water to boil. He turns around and almost jumps again when he sees Arthur standing in the doorway to the living room. 

Merlin takes in how Arthur looks. His messy hair that is greasy as all hell from him touching it and running his fingers through it. It's up in every direction possible. His face is red and his eyes are all puffy and red and he looks really tired. 

Good. Feel the pain I went through. 

"What do you want Arthur." He says trying to keep his voice even. He hopes to all God's it was. 

"What do I want?" He whispers. He then looks down at his feet and repeats it again but quieter. "What do I want?"

The kettle flicks off, indicating it's done. "It's not a hard question Arthur." He sighs turning around and getting out the sugar and the tea bag. He pours himself a cup and places the teabag in it. 

Arthur moves towards the fridge and gets the milk out handing it to Merlin. "If I tell you what it is, you won't believe me." He finally gives an answer which only confuses the poor warlock even more. 

"What do you mean? How could I not believe you?" He scoffs and pours some milk in it now and adds sugar. He stirs and takes a sip, feeling the warm liquid run down his throat and into his stomach making him feel warmer. 

"If I tell you what I truly want, you won't believe me." Arthur tells him. 

That's probably bullshit. Merlin can probably guess what he's want. 

"I can probably let take a guess at what you'd want." He glares at him over the rim of his mug and Arthur flinches and looks away. Good. 

"I highly doubt it Merlin." 

Merlin places his mug down on the counter so hard tea almost spills out over the rim. "Oh really? Then tell me Arthur. What is it you really want? Mhm?" 

Arthur looks up and meets his glare head on. "What I truly want? What I truly want is you Merlin." He says and Merlin starts laughing. His laugh sounds hollow and he knows Arthur can hear it.

He turns his glare on Arthur again his laughter turning into harsh tears. "Oh that is absolute horse shit. You just yelled at me in front of all those people that you wish I was gone. That I never was born and that you hated me!" He yells and hates himself for his his voice cracks on the last word. 

He feels a pressure against his leg and he glances down at the dragon who is standing in front of him, eyes trained on Arthur like a dog. Merlin mentally tells her to stay, hoping she's listening to him.

Arthur steps towards him, ignoring the dragon. "I didn't mean it." 

"You might have not meant it but you were sure as hell thinking it Arthur Pendragon and that's still just as bad." He sneers and Arthur's eyes start to tear up. 

"It was an accident. I never meant it and you know that Merlin. I love you even with your magic." He says stepping closer to Merlin who wishes he wasn't at the counter already so he could move away. 

"How can I believe you when you told me you hated it? Hated me?" Merlin's voice goes softer and he hates that he's so weak against Arthur. "How can I trust you won't break me again? This is the second time this has happened. That you've hurt me, intentionally or not." He says and wipes his cheeks while looking down at the ground, his tea long forgotten at this point. 

He hears Arthur move but he doesn't know where to. Not till a hand is on his chin and lifting his face up to meet his bright blue eyes that have tears in them but soon a look of determination takes ahold of them. He gets down on on knee and grabs Merlin's hands making his heart pick up speed. "Merlin, I swear on my life that I will never hurt you on purpose, that I will never leave your side. I swear to love and protect you no matter what gets thrown our way. You are the most amazing thing that has happened to me and I wouldn't ask for anyone other than you. You're the one who has always been by my side, watching and protecting me from all evils of the world, even the ones I didn't know about. Let me change that Merlin. Let me protect you from all the dangers and evils of this new world. I promise no harm will come to you. You're my light Merlin. I give you my word." He says and Merlin can barley see from all the tears swimming around in his vision. He squeezes Arthur's hands even harder and pulls him up off the ground. 

Once Arthur is up on his feet and is stable, Merlin flings himself at him. He wraps his arms around Arthur's shoulders and his go around Merlin's waist. 

Merlin can feel his shoulder getting wet from Arthur's tears but he couldn’t give a rats ass about it. He leans back a little to look at him and when Arthur's eyes meet his he grabs his face and pulls him closer and moulds his mouth with Arthur's. 

Just as it should be. 

The kiss is hard and salty with the tears of them but he could care less. Arthur's arms tighten around him and they fit together like a puzzle piece. 

Merlin can feel the raw emotion in this kiss and he hopes Arthur can feel it to. Merlin pulls back a little and closes his eyes, leaning his forehead against Arthur’s. 

He slowly opens his eyes to see Arthur already staring back at him. Arthur wipes his thumb across Merlin’s cheek, catching stray tear. 

“Let’s go to the couch and watch something. A movie you can pick.” Arthur says and pecks Merlin’s forehead as he pulls away and grabs ahold of his hand. 

He looks down at there untwined fingers thinking of the girls from the park and mentally thanks them. 

Arthur flips down on the couch and brings Merlin with him. Merlin leans against Arthur and gets comfy with the blanket he left on the floor. 

Arthur hands Merlin the remote and he turns the tv on. He switches it to Netflix and scrolls through the movies. He scrolls for a few minutes and finally picks Elf. 

As the movie starts Lilith jumps up and curls up beside him, closing her eyes. 

Tomorrow they go look at a house. Hopefully it’s far from people and has lots of land where Lilith can grow to become the dragon she was born to be. A warlock, his king and his dragon. 

That sounds pretty damn good to him.


End file.
